Couldn't be any Prouder
by May-Rene
Summary: After accidentally discovering her son's secret Maddie's world and view of ghosts are changed forever. How will her new knowledge effect those around her?
1. Who He Is

Chapter 1- Who He Is 

"_Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."_

_-Martin Luther King, Jr._

_'Where is it? I could have sworn I put the new intangibility spray in here.'_

Maddie pulled open another draw in the specter speeder and furiously searched through it, pulling every single item out when just rummaging proved fruitless._ 'It's not like it could have disappeared.' _She hastily threw all the little doodads back into the compartment, slammed it shut, and scanned the inside of the metal ship. There was now no place Maddie hadn't gone through in the vehicle. Shaking her head she step out of it and sighed._ 'Jack's waiting and I don't have time to tear the lab apart... but I can't just leave without it. We've missed the last six invention symposiums and Jack made such a ruckus about our new 'ultra cool give-ghosts-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine' break through.'_

Biting her lip and contemplating what to do next the auburn haired scientist suddenly spotted a messy corner of the lab where she remembered seeing the little bottle at some point. _'Well it can't hurt to take a look there and if I still can't find it then I can take the gloves. They aren't done but better to present something as opposed to nothing and the idea is sure to blow everybody away.' S_he made her way over to the cluttered space and smiled when her eyes locked onto a familiar glass bottle filled with a translucent lavender liquid sitting innocently atop a large mound of disheveled papers. Her gloved hand reached for the glass and stopped. Faint talking was coming from the portal. Quickly Maddie grabbed the intangibility serum and hopped behind the desk.

"-don't see what the big deal is Sam."

…. there was a pause and the voice got louder.

"But the poster _didn't _get damaged much less destroyed."

…. That sounded like Danny's voice, but it was slightly off. _'__Phantom.' _Maddie realized.

"Yes! . . . No. No, the _point_ is Ineed this extra credit bad and since clockwork was willing to help I figured I should take advantage of that."

…. Maddie didn't have time to get into a fight with him; she and Jack needed to get going before they were late. It would be faster to let him go. Much as she hated admitting it, Phantom didn't go out of his way to cause trouble so leaving him free to roam the town for a few hours shouldn't cause any harm.

"I was willing to take that risk! Do you have any idea how many points this is worth? Lancer might have been joking when he said it, but he did promise to bump up the grade of who ever could bring him a personally signed Shakespeare play by _two letters._ That turns my C to an A." He passed through the portal and touched down on the floor holding onto a rolled up piece of poster board and a small stack of papers loosely strung together.

_'_…. _Lancer? As in Mr. Lancer? And what project? What the heck is he talking about?'_

"When do I ever know how I'm going to explain something? Never, which is why I'm not going to worry about that right now." Phantom's face light up in absolute delight. "My parents are going to be _so_ excited when I bring home my report card. Sam I can see it now: 'Oh Danny, we're so proud of you. Your first A in English! As a reward we've decided to extend your curfew.'"

Now that he was on the other side Maddie could hear the other voice. The phone (_where did he get a cellphone?_) must have been on speaker. "_Danny they are not going to do something like that just cause of one A... Get your head out of the clouds and bring over the play I want to take a look at it. Which one did you get anyway?"_

That was definitely Sam Manson's voice. Phantom got this smug look as he started walking. "I got Othello, Lancer's favorite. Man can you imagine the look on his face?" A white halo sparked to life around him and divided in two, one gliding waist up the other falling past his feet. "It's going to be priceless. He'll probably be sputtering, owl eyed, and slack jawed." The now raven haired teen laughed. "I need to bring a camera and have you or Tucker take a picture."

From her position behind the desk Maddie seemed to be doing an impressive imitation of the expression Danny was describing to his friend as she stared in disbelief. "Hey, do you mind if I take a quick shower before I come over? You wouldn't _believe_ what I had to go through to get this stupid thing." Her son walked up the stairs into the kitchen, the talking fading out as her mind somewhat shut down and he walked out of range. She numbly followed after she was sure there was enough distance between the two of them for him not to notice her presence. Maddie watched Danny go up the stairs and down the hall. A door shut and several minutes later the sound of water from a shower filled the empty house...

. . . . .

"Mads did you find it!" Jack yelled from outside hoping his wife would hear him. With the living room window open she did and it jolted her out of the state she had been stuck in. While the mother in her wanted to march up to Danny and interrogate him, the rational side told her that was a bad idea. Her son hadn't told them for a reason and accusing him of keeping secrets and trying to pry them out of him was probably going to cause more harm than good.

Quietly, she left the house and walked to the RV, pulling the bulky metal door open and slamming it shut once she was sitting inside. "Found it honey." Looking at Jack, memories of shooting at Amity Park's hero, threatening to tear Phantom apart with Danny around, and insulting as well as accusing the ghost surfaced. Teal hands reached for the safety belt. ***click*** Her baby would open up and tell her when he was ready, when he felt he could. "I'm ready." In the mean time she would just have to slowly (so as not to arouse suspicion from Danny) change her and Jack's behavior regarding Phantom, that way he would be comfortable when the time came.

"Alright Maddie, we have people to blow away!" Jack floored the gas pedal and the RV jerked to life.

Scenery flew by as Maddie smiled and her eyes lit up in humor and relief. Danny, who had always been so embarrassed by their profession, was now a ghost hunter himself. And from the number of times she had arrived at the scene only in time to witness Phantom capping the Fenton thermos and flying off, he was pretty good. She had been worried; breaking curfew almost every night, coming home battered and bruised, the bad grades, bags under his eyes, almost unhealthy leanness. It had occurred to her that maybe he was doing drugs or getting involved with gangs or something equally as dangerous and unhealthy. Granted ghost hunting wasn't terribly safe, but now that she knew, Danny was going to have another person watching his back, whether he knew it or not. He deserved it.

Instead of being irresponsible like she had assumed, her son was putting himself on the line and protecting his home, his family, handling the stronger ghosts that would have bested her and Jack probably in an attempt to keep them safe. He did this all in addition to trying to balance his grades and from what she had heard in the basement, Danny was doing anything he could to make the two of them happy in that regard. Her son was a teenager; that meant he needed space to find out who he was and spread his wings. Maddie's little boy was excelling at both and clearly knew who he was and wanted to be so who was she to get in his way?

She glanced at the mirror to her right and saw a black and white blur flying through the air towards Sam's, binder tucked under one arm and grin plastered on his face like he didn't have a care in the world. Danny Fenton/Phantom. This was her Danny now; a fine young man who stood his ground and faced the world head on like a true hero. A single tear rolled down her face.

_'I couldn't be any prouder.'_

xXxXxXxXxXx (next day)

Birds chirped as Danny, Sam, and Tucker walked to school. Danny seemed to move with an extra spring in his step as he talked with his friends.

"You have the Poster Sam?"

"Yep, You have the manuscript Danny?"

"Of course, how about you Tuck, you have the camera?"

"Don't you know it! I can't wait to see Lancer's face. I still can't believe you actually used clockwork's tower to go back in time and get Shakespeare himself to give you a copy of Othello."

"Well the reward was just so tempting."

The three of them got to school and after homeroom went to first period English. There the trio patiently waited for their turn to present, which wasn't long.

"Ms. Manson, why doesn't your group start us off?"

. . . . . .

"And that concludes our presentation."

"Very well done." Mr. Lancer said clapping. "There were some facts that even I didn't know. You three may return to your seats now."

"Um... Mr. Lancer?"

"Yes Mr. Fenton?"

"I have one more thing I wanted to present to your specifically." He looked at Tucker who had the camera discretely behind his back and Danny nodded his head. Tucker started filming.

The camera followed Danny to his seat as he got a small stack of paper neatly strung together and up to the front where he held out the pile to his confused teacher.

"Mr. Fenton?" Lancer raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't understand. There was nothing else required for the project."

"Don't worry Mr. Lancer, this is the extra credit." He smiled.

"Extra credit?" Taking the papers he gazed at the cover page curiously as the word 'Othello' stared up at him. Letting his eyes scan the paper they immediately stopped at the bottom. There in the bottom right hand comer. His breathing hitched as _Shakespeare_ neat in a messy way was scrawled on the paper. "Mr. Fenton?" He asked a bit unsure.

The teen in question just gave him an innocent look. "You said that anyone who could get you an authentic Shakespeare written play signed by the bard himself would get extra credit. Two letter grades worth. Well, here it is." Mr. Lancer's eyes bulged.

"B-but, where, how, who... you-" he flipped through some of the pages and noticed the texture of the paper. The old fashioned handwriting and off color ink. His jaw dropped. _I think this is really real._ "Where did you find this? How did you get it? Who did you get it from?"

"Oh I just kinda stumbled upon it."

"Stumbled upon it?" Mr. Lancer repeated incredulously.

"Um, yeah." Tucker was snickering as he continued to roll and the rest of the class was staring in disbelief as well. Finally collecting himself enough, "Well this certainly seems to be an authentic copy so I will hold true to my word. Your grade will be raised Mr. Fenton."

xXxXxXxXxXx (a few weeks later on report card day)

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Danny shouted kicking the front door shut.

Maddie came up from the basement and headed to the living room to give her son a hug. "Welcome home Sweetie. Your father and I were just working on the Fenton Thermos 2.0."

"2.0?"

"Yep, there's not much difference, but the new thermos has a stronger ectoproofing and sounder metal. It can hold stronger ghosts or an increased amount of regular level ones. It's also sturdier so if your father gets a little clumsy and drops it, the thermos won't release the ghosts already in it." Maddie smiled knowingly at her son. He could be such a klutz at times and she was positive that at some point he probably had an experience like that. The excitement in his eyes just strengthened that belief.

"Really?"

She nodded. "Now, what were you so excited about before?"

"Oh, I just wanted to show you guys my report card." he shrugged trying not to seem so enthusiastic. "Here."

Opening the paper, Maddie smiled. 

English 10 A

Gym B+

Chemistry B-

US History II B

Spanish A-

Geometry B-

Creative Writing A

Advanced Art A+

No C's this time. This was a terrific improvement from last time. A memory struck her suddenly and Maddie looked at Danny. "You know what? This is such an improvement that you deserve a reward. How about instead of a 10 O' Clock curfew, we make it let's say... 11. How does that sound?" Danny had stars in his eyes as he tackled his mom. "Yes! You are the best mom ever! Thanks!"

With that he pulled away and started dashing up the steps. "Danny." He stopped. "Since you're allowed to stay out later, there's an increased risk of running into ghosts because they're more active during the night. When we're done with the new thermos I expect you to carry it with you at all times. It's for safety so no arguing. Do you understand?"

Danny could have laughed. He had been planning to take the thermos when they were done but now it was must being handed to him on a silver platter. "Don't worry Mom, I promise I'll keep it on me at all times." He agreed before racing to his room, no doubt to tell Sam and Tucker the good news.

A/N: So what did everyone think? I'm not gonna lie, some of this feels a little sappy. I was busy during PhannieMay and I wanted to still contribute, this is the tenth year anniversary after all. I was going for transformation at first but now, this really feels like the Mother's day one. I believe that this can stand as a one shot but I kinda feel like making a second chapter, not sure if I will. *sighs* Summer is going by so fast. I'm gonna be a senior in high school and then I'll have to start collage. Man I need to get my act together.

As always; Reviews are most definitely welcome so please leave a comment. Even one word is much appreciated and one word only takes a few seconds so leave one.

~May Rene


	2. When the Mist Clears

Chapter 2- When the Mist Clears

"_There are people you can pass that, to you, are just a face in a crowd; then you meet them and suddenly... that other face in the crowd becomes clear." -Matt Wilson_

There are sayings that everyone hears at least once in their life. Expressions that are handed down from generation to generation and have found a common place in everyday life. The truth of such sayings doesn't always hit you until it _really_ hits you. For Madeleine Fenton that statement was 'hind sight is 20/20'.

The next few months following the symposium were eyes opening for her. With Phantom no longer wearing the discriminating label of 'ghost' the young scientist really looked at him and saw things that she, in her blind hatred, had previously missed. The most glaringly obvious were the physical similarities. Besides the hair and eye color difference, Danny and Phantom were identical. Height, build, hair style, facial structure. If you could get rid of the unnatural glow temporarily and stuck the two side by side they would pass as identical twins. Phantom's banter with the other apparitions was another thing she noticed soon after watching him fight. He always had a witty come back ready and waiting whenever he engaged an opponent, the same kind of jokes Danny had been telling his whole life.

Phantom however wasn't the only one under closer observation; Maddie paid his human side almost as much attention as his ghost side and now little pieces added up. The before school physical this year showed that Danny's body temperature was 94, a degree lower than last year and 3 degrees lower than the year before that. His heart rate and blood pressure were also slightly lower than the previous year and she figured that the two halve weren't done fully integrating with one another. After his teen years the two halves would likely be stabilized completely and his vitals wouldn't change anymore.

In some areas though Danny was way above average. His senses were one place, though she wasn't sure his being part ghost had much to do with that. Any well seasoned warrior's eyes and ears naturally picked up alertness after countless battles and Maddie honestly couldn't understand how one's sense of smell and taste could improve from being half dead. If anything, she would have assumed those senses would dull.

Phantom also had incredible physical strength and Maddie had tried to discretely test how much transferred over to Danny. For her experiment, she lined up four boxes on the kitchen table and asked Danny if he could be a dear and bring them down to the lab for her. To her son they looked like regular boxes filled with old inventions and scrap parts, nothing out of the ordinary in their household, but the bottom of each box contained weights. Box 1 weighed about 100lbs, and each box after that had 100lbs more added to it so the last box weighed 400lbs. For boxes 1 to 3 Danny seemed perfectly fine. It wasn't until box 4 that he struggled, but even then he had still managed to carry it all the way downstairs.

What intrigued her more than anything was his healing rate. She could think of several particularly nasty fights that had left Phantom more than a little worse for wear with the wounds transferring to his human side. Maddie remembered his latest fight against Skulker; Danny had been fighting a bad cold and the result was a brutal smack down against a normally not so tough ghost. She was positive he had dragged himself through the door with several broken ribs and a fracture in his left leg if the half floating when he thought no one was looking gave any indication. The next morning when she went by his room and looked in she saw him running around like usual trying to get ready for school appearing just a bit stiff and sore. It gave Maddie great comfort to know that her baby could take quite a beating and simply sleep it off, he seemed to be in no danger of permanent injury or death and that could not have been a bigger relief.

Of course Maddie wasn't the only one to have more peace of mind these days, Phantom was obviously glad she wasn't shooting at him anymore. She could still remember their first run in after the discovery.

**Flashback- Two and a half months ago-**

Maddie whistled as she walked home from the grocery store enjoying the beautiful weather amity park was having before the hot sticky summer arrived. The period of baby bear just right temperatures was short, so why drive on a day like today and waste a chance to enjoy a lovely Saturday morning stroll? She made it a block before her ghost detector started beeping and the pleasant mood she had instantly vanished. Maddie looked down at beeping gadget strapped to her right thigh and the faint dot blinking on the screen and decided to investigate. Setting her groceries in an alley where no one was likely to disturb them she followed the digital directions to where the ghost was; a new store named _Gift Box Emporium_. The store was so new that it still hadn't been set up and for the most part it was boxes and shelves. Maddie broke in through a window shortly before the detector gave a small beep and a second, much brighter and larger dot appeared.

"Oh God, not you _again_! How many times have I thrown you into the ghost zone because I have seriously lost count."

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" he stopped and paused. "and it had been 671 times."

"..."

"..." 

"Why have you been counting?"

"So that I may repay you exactly that many times one day!" *face palm*

"Look can we just get this over with? I'd like one Saturday I can _enjoy_ this month."

"You can enjoy your doom at the hands of-" a blue beam of light cut him off as he was sucked inside the Fenton thermos 2.0. Phantom caped the thermos and paused, looking like he was thinking about something. "Well since he's the only one in here..." he trailed off. Shrugging his shoulders he tossed the canister in the air a few times before retracting his hand and letting it fall the ground with a clang. Nothing. Silence. "Awesome! It really does have sturdier metal." he smiled floating down to the ground and picking up the cylinder.

"That must be our new thermos." Maddie said stepping out of the shadows to show herself. Phantom's first thought, leave, caused him to retreat back in to the air. He faltered a bit however seeing that Maddie was unarmed, something he never saw unless he was in his human form, and decided stayed (at least until she started shooting, then he'd take his leave).

"I uh... I didn't steal it." he said commenting on his mom's first statement.

She smiled at him, "I believe you. My Danny probably didn't want to carry it everywhere and just left it somewhere. I assume you found it and picked it up intending to put it to better use."

Phantom got a pouty look on his face. "He wouldn't do that. He's responsible and really appreciates the inventions you give him and-" he stopped realizing that he had no other explanation he could give Maddie beside the one she had come up with without giving something away. "I mean, I'm sure he honestly just forgot it and it was completely unintentional."

She got an amused look at his response. "I bet."

"So... why are you here?" Phantom asked timidly. "Not that there's anything wrong with you being here!" he added quickly.

"If you must know I was headed home when my ghost detector went off and I decided to investigate. I _am _a ghost hunter, do you find it odd that I would show up when a ghost does?"

"No, it's just that there are plenty of other times when ghosts show up and you don't come charging in." Phantom pointed out.

"I come more often than you think. The problem is I arrive right after you've finished and there isn't anything left for me to do." Maddie looked him over. "What about you? It's a beautiful Saturday, I'm sure you have better things to do than look for fights."

Phantom glared at Maddie. "I don't go 'looking for fights'. You think I enjoy chasing pests like the box ghost around all day or going up against some of those stronger ghosts and getting my ass kicked? I'll tell you I don't, it hurts and it's embarrassing. Plus I take the blame when anything gets damaged because no one ever bothers to think that if I _didn't _show up and put an end to the other guy, the collateral would be even worse!"

Maddie crossed her arms. "Did _you_ ever consider that people blame you because you _are _at fault, even if only partially? I've seen you fight; it's sloppy and leaves much to be desired. As a ninth degree black belt I cringe at a lot of the moves you make. If you took the time to learn to fight cleaner there'd be less damage to both you and your surroundings." Phantom snorted and floated down to the ground a lot less leery of Maddie.

"Never thought I'd see the day you started lecturing me." _Or ghost me rather._ "What happened to shoot first, ask questions later? Not that I mind you not trying to put a hole through me."

"You aren't doing anything obtrusive and I'm not in the mood to go picking fights. I have a family and I plan on spending this Saturday with them since I've been busy. We haven't done anything together in a while so I thought it would be nice to go to the park and play some board games, maybe swim in the river or throw a ball around."

"You sure you can get everybody to go?"

"Oh yes I'm quite positive." At Phantom's doubtful look, "I can drag Danny and Jazz if I have to, but I'm going to make sure we make some memories-" Maddie's phone started ringing. She pulled it out her jump suit (which now included it after the whole Dalv fiasco) and looked at the ID. _Jack_. "That would be my partner in crime, I'll see you around Phantom. Stay out of trouble." With that she turned her back and walked to the window she had come through and climbed out.

_xXxXxXxXxXx_

Maddie hung up the phone and continued walking home with groceries in arm. _'__I wonder if that'll get Danny to ask me for lessons? If not I can probably think of some other excuse for forcing karate on him. He'll thank me in the end, I know he will...I hope he got the hint and goes straight home because I _will _drag him if I have to.'_ She rounded to the corner and smiled as her home into view. The young scientist walked up the front steps and opened the door. She went to the kitchen and set the groceries on the table before starting to put them away in the proper cabinets. When Maddie was done she checked to see where everyone was and gather the family in the living room for a shot discussion. "Being that it's such a lovely Saturday I thought we could all go to the park and have a family day. I hope none of you have any objections."

"I think it's a wonderful idea mom, doing something family oriented that isn't related to ghosts." Jazz said from her spot on the couch. Maddie looked at Danny next.

"No complaints. It sounds like fun."

"Good! Jack can help me pack the food. Danny, you and Jazz can get some board games, towels, a blanket, frisbee and ball. Everybody also needs to grab a bathing suits and feel free to take anything else you think you'd use. I'd like to leave in twenty to thirty minutes."

. . . . .

While in the kitchen with Jack, Maddie decided it would be good to share what had transpired earlier. "I was talking to Phantom today." She said opening a loaf of bread and spreading the slices out.

"What'd you manage to get out of him? Anything useful?" Jack said walking to the refrigerator and opening it.

"What?"

"When you interrogated him, did you find out any useful information?" He clarified searching for mayonnaise and some meat for the sandwiches.

"Jack I didn't interrogate Phantom, I ran into him coming home from the store and we had a simple chat. No force or any unpleasantries." Now Jack was the one who didn't understand as he came back to the table and set down the mayo, lettuce, tomato, ham, turkey, and cheese.

"You just talked? Like small-talk talk?" She nodded opening the jar and reaching for a knife to spread the mayo with. "Why? He's an evil ghost, what could you possibly get from talking to him?" Jack took the now mayo-ed bread from Maddie and put two pieces of lettuce on before adding a healthy hunk of ham.

"I don't think he's evil honey, he doesn't go out of his way to cause trouble and we've been observing him for over two years. I'll take turkey instead of ham," she handed him two more slices of bread. "We both know how powerful he is, if he meant to cause harm he would have done so already. I know all our other research says that ghosts are unintelligent, obsessive beings that only cause harm and destruction but there are always exceptions to the rules. I really think Phantom is an exception here."

Jack put a finishing tomato slice on before putting Maddie's sandwich aside and cutting more ham for the next one. "I know he doesn't go out of his way to brother people but he's always fighting and damaging things. Besides Maddie, what about when he robbed those banks or took the mayor hostage or how about when he shot at us? He's dangerous and still a ghost at heart. I don't trust him." She handed him the bread and he handed her the turkey.

"Maybe you're right, but you have to admit he's different. He is intelligent, when he fights he thinks of strategies and if they don't work he evolves his fighting to make them work." She stacked two turkey slices on the lettuce and tomato while jack arranged the ham on the wheat bread in front of him. "And there's two sides to every story, maybe those black spots aren't as dark as they seem." Jack seemed ready to object and Maddie added, "They might be evil acts like everyone assumes but sometimes people are framed." She put Jazz's sandwich on the plate with the others and got up to grab a picnic basket. "We don't know and can only speculate. I'm just asking that you not shoot at Phantom simply because you see him. If he appears to be causing trouble," she sat down with the woven basket "and I mean real trouble Jack, then discourage him, but promise me you won't blindly fire away because he's a ghost. We might learn from him because he's different. I talked to him about his fights today, but if there's a next time I can ask about other ghost who _are _a problem. Can you do that for me Jack?"

He smiled at his wife lovingly and opened the basket lid to put the sandwich plate inside. "Maddie, you know I love you and I trust your judgment. You're brilliant and sometimes you're way ahead of everyone else in your thinking. I know for a fact that you can see things in others that nobody else sees- that's why you chose me even with all my faults. If you think this is best and you seriously believe that Phantom isn't just some evil ghost... then I'm willing to give him a second looking at and not shoot on sight." He stuffed a bag of lays chips that were on the table in the basket as well and closed the lid.

"Oh Jack..."

"Now, we just need some juice and we'll be set."

"I'll take this out to the car. Why don't you fill the cooler bag while I'm doing that? And pack some water to please." Maddie said pushing her chair in.

"Can do!"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Danny and Jazz were stowing their assigned items in the back and talking when Maddie silently came out. She paused to hear what her kids were discussing.

"She didn't shoot at you at all?"

"Nope. We just talked. It was nice, she seemed to be in a good mood. Mom said I wasn't doing anything and that she saw no reason to pick a fight."

"That's wonderful Danny. Maybe she's finally coming around and won't attack anymore." _'So Jazz knows. I wonder if Danny told her or if she figured it out on her own... or if he was careless and she just saw.'_

"Thanks Jazz, I'm hoping so to. If Dad starts showing more acceptance I might even tell them. Not right away of course, I still want to Mom and Dad to accept Phantom on their own, not just because he's there sort of son before I say anything. But today was definitely a start."

"Yeah. Anyways, I'm really glad we're going to the park. This is the first thing in a while that we're doing as a family that doesn't involve ghosts."

"I know, I'm tempted to ask what the occasion is." At this Jazz giggled.

"I don't think there's any special reason Danny. Mom just wants to enjoy us while we're still around."

"She must be having one of her my-kids-are-growing-up-so-fast-and-I-don't-want-them-to moments." At this Maddie laughed, startling the two. "Uh... hi Mom, when did you come out?"

"Just in time to here that last remark." Danny and Jazz relaxed instantly. "Honestly is that what you kids think?" She got a wistful look and sighed. "I suppose you two are growing up fast, pretty soon you'll be leaving the nest and me behind, but I wanted to do this because I just missed this sort of thing. You know, going places and having fun, sharing laughs and memories. I want you two to be able to look back and have good times to tell _your_ kids about. We've been growing a bit apart lately. Jazz, you're running around getting ready for college. Danny, you're spreading your wings and trying new experiences. Your father and I are still inventing but we've been trying to step it up since we haven't been as involved with the ghost community since we had you two. Times are changing and I want to capture this moment in time while I can." Jazz stared at Maddie.

"Mom that was beautiful. I didn't know you could be so deep."

"I studied philosophy in college to Ja-"

"I got our swim suits Mads! I think we're ready. Did you kids grab everything?" Jack asked as he barreled out the door.

"Yes Dad, we're all set."

"Good! Let's get going then!"

xXxXxXxXxXx

The trip to the park turned out surprisingly well with the biggest relief being that no ghosts showed up. The Fentons enjoyed a heated two hour scrabble game with Jazz winning, Maddie coming in second, Danny third, and Jack dad last. Afterwards Maddie and Jack played frisbee while Danny and Jazz took a swim in the parks fairly shallow river. Maddie added another thing to her 'things to look into' about Danny' list when she hear Jazz give a quiet, surprised "Ah! Danny that's not funny!". Missing Jack's next throw on purpose, Maddie saw her daughter shivering and surrounded by thin layer of ice with Danny laughing to himself when she retrieved the frisbee. When the kids were done with the water (which for Jazz was pretty much after Danny's stunt) everyone ate their sandwiches and talked. The remainder of the time spent at the park had been made productive after a shot conversation between Maddie and Danny.

Maddie raised an eyebrow when her son approached her looking embarrassed. "Uh... Mom, I was just wondering if maybe, you know since I'm out later and I'll probably run into a few ghost every now and then, that you could possibly give me a few hand to hand combat lessons?" He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Oh Sweetie I'd be happy to, there's no need to be hesitant if you're asking me something like that. You know your father and I would do anything to keep you kids safe. How about we get your sister and father to join us as well; it'll be good for everyone." She gave him a smile and pat on the back before going over to the rest of the family.

The rest of their day at the park was spent with Maddie giving everybody the first lessons of Karate. With Jack the effort had been just that- an effort. By the end of the session Maddie was positive he was not martial arts material in any way shape or form and that not even the best of teachers could do anything about it. Danny and Jazz were thankfully different. Apparently Jazz had been teaching herself some basics with online help and was pretty spot on, the lesson had been mostly a review for her. Danny was different from Maddie's other temporary students, more of a cross between. He definitely had grace unlike Jack and moved on his feet like a veteran fighter if you knew enough to look. He ran through the series of katas that Maddie had shown the group with no effort at all. However unlike Jazz, Danny's grace was not refined and fluid. It was like comparing a hip hop dancer to a ballerina, both could dance and held a certain appeal but the ballerina had a smoother elegance where as the hip hop dancer had a fluidity to his moves because he had been forced through them so many times.

Most of the time was spent teaching Danny better control and Jack how to not fall when attempting a high kick. By the end of it Jack could at least catch himself on his way down even though he still couldn't perform the kick and Danny had much better control of his moves. For Maddie, that was good enough for now. She could give Danny more instruction next weekend.

The Fenton's went home tired and smiling somewhere around 5:30.

**-End Flash back-**

A/N-

Ok first and foremost: Everyone (including me) needs to give a colossal titan huge shout out to Hinote Snidget for this chapter. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to write in chapter 2 and in her review she left some ideas for me and they were all pretty good so anyone who wanted a continuation, this happened a _lot_ faster because of her. That being said; if anyone has any ideas feel free to mention them. I don't bit or flame people for suggestions. I know sometimes readers don't gives suggestions because they think A) the author won't use them B) the author doesn't need them C) the ideas aren't good or D) the reader just doesn't have any. To these thoughts I say a) mention them anyway because the author might actually use the idea and even if the whole idea doesn't work they might use part of the suggestion b) um yeah, everyone gets writers block and sometimes a friendly little suggestion goes a long way c) you are your own worst critic, personally I don't think this story is that good. Are there decent parts that I am kinda proud of? Yes. Are there parts that I can't believe I actually wrote and then let myself include? ***gets a microphone and clears throat* **Oh God yes. d) eh, sometimes you don't have anything you'd like to add.

Next on the agenda- Katas- to any non anime watchers or at least Naruto watchers I'm sorry if this word confused you. Katas are martial art sets. Usually you build on them, so they start out simple with only a few moves and once you master them you add a few more step and then you practice the new with the old till you've got it down and then you add even more. Rinse and repeat.

~Thank you for reading, May Rene


	3. Steps Taken

Chapter 3- Taking Steps

"_'Every journey begins with a step'. The truest of all sayings. For no journey can begin without it. Some journeys begin by carrying you along, and the first step, is whether to go on, or go back."- Matt Wilson_

Sunlight flitted in through the window hitting the sleeping teenager's face. The pale light of the sun intensified as the fiery orb steadily rose higher into the sky, leaving the clingy grasp of the horizon behind. With the darkness of night fading so to was the raven haired teen's unconsciousness. Awareness slowly caught up with him and Danny groaned as he opened his eyes then closed them blinded by the light. _'Note to self... close blinds before bed'. _With that thought in mind Danny rolled over and shifted further into his pillow and blanket, blissful sleep gently starting to consume him.

Until a knock on his door brought him out of it once again. 

"Danny dear, you need to get up for school." His mother's voice called to him from behind the light gray door. She waited a minute for any signs of life and upon hearing none entered his room. "Come on Sweetie, rise and shine. It's time to get up."

"What time is it?"

"6:45."

"_Ugh_, twenty more minutes Mom." He groaned.

The young scientist shook her head and walked over to the bed. "Danny, you don't want to be running around at the last minute trying to get ready. It's easier if you get up now and can take your time waking up and going through your morning routines." She reasoned. 

Danny rubbed the crust out of his eyes and looked at his mother blearily. "Running around last minute _is_ part of the routine." He pointed out. 

Maddie smiled at her son's logic. "It shouldn't be and it's high time I break you out of that habit. We don't want that tardiness following you around for life now do we?"

"Honestly Mom I'm not worried about being late. I can get to school so fast I'm practically flying."

"Is that a fact? Still, wouldn't you rather enjoy your morning 'flight' as opposed to rushing there as fast as you can? Besides no amount of speed will save you if you run out of the house already late. Now out of bed mister, or do I have to go get the Fenton family alarm clock?"

Danny's eyes widen and he jumped out of the bed so fast Maddie was genuinely surprised he didn't trip and fall. _'Maybe he phased his feet last minute?' _She wondered going down to the kitchen to fix breakfast. _'Eggs and coffee sound good. I can cut up some fruit to.'_

xXxXxXxXxXx

Entering the kitchen Maddie saw Jazz at the table with a text book open and scribbling down notes. "Good morning Jazz. Getting some last minute work in?"

Her daughter looked up. "Oh, hi Mom. No this is... actually this is just some personal learning. Nothing school related for once." Jazz said turning to a clean page in her notebook. Maddie walked to the table and grabbed the left half of the open book, closing it part way so that she could read the cover. "Parabiology 101?"

Jazz flushed and looked like she wanted to lower her head but instead met her mother's gaze. "Yeah, I wanted to learn more about ghosts and how they function." _'Or supposedly function since Danny always_ _manages to defy some rule.' _"I figured it might come in handy one day."

"That's wonderful honey. I'm so glad you're taking an active interest in your father and I's field of expertise." She let go of the book and went over to the fridge. "If you have any questions or want something clarified you can always ask one of us." She said taking the carton of eggs out and setting it on the stove. Maddie lit a burner and place an iron pan on top of it. "We'd be more than happy to help and there's nothing wrong with asking a few questions here and there so don't be shy, ok?"

Jazz nodded her head. "Alright Mom, I'll go straight to you if I'm confused about something."

"Good. Now how many eggs? One or two?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

When Danny waltzed into the kitchen at seven fully dressed and ready for school, the first thing to hit him as he entered was the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee. "Smells good Mom, no ecto-cooker this morning?" He grinned.

Maddie gave Danny a reproachful look. "One of these days we'll have a break through with ecto-cooking, then you won't be so quick to pass judgment on it young man."

"I look forward to it."

He sat down at the table and eyed Jazz's book. "Do you ever sleep or have fun? Seriously all I ever see you do is study and I know that isn't good for you, you'll burn yourself out."

Jazz scoffed. "I get plenty of sleep and this _is _my fun. Don't worry little bro, I'll be just fine."

"If you say so." Danny said frowning.

Maddie came over with two plates balanced on her left arm and a ceramic periwinkle mug in each hand. She set a mug of orange juice in front of both children and carefully put Jazz's plate down before removing Danny's from her arm and placing it in front of him. A small cheesy ham and tomato omlette and two maple sausage links sat steaming on the plates with a juicy slice of cantaloupe on the side. "Dig in." She announced cheerfully moving back to the stove to check on the roasting hazelnut coffee.

Danny and Jazz sat in a pleasant silence eating their homemade breakfast. The homey atmosphere of the kitchen coupled with the sounds of a lively May morning filled the air creating a relaxing feel. Halfway through their meal Maddie pulled up a chair and joined them. She quietly sipped her java while Danny finished his fruit and Jazz worked on her sausage. "So... anybody have anything happening today?" Maddie asked breaking the comfortable silence.

Danny, now completely done with his meal, got up and set his dishes in the sink. He filled the mug with warm water then sat back down and folded his hands in front of him. "Not that I can think of." He said. "I mean it's Wednesday not much happens on Wednesdays; Friday is when all the teachers give tests and Thursday is when students scramble to get in last minute cramming or work done for major assignments. Not much happens on days like today."

Maddie looked to Jazz who had finished her links and omlette and was now just biting the last bits of flesh off the greenish-tan rind in her hands. "I have a presentation in psychology today but it's no big deal. I know I'm going to ace it already. I've been rehearsing for two days and going over the information for five. I know my topic like the back of my hand."

"That's good."

"What about you Mom? What are you doing today?"

Maddie looked out the window and sighed. Her gaze settled on a chirping brown sparrow singing to its mate on a low branch of the tree in front of the kitchen window. "I don't know Jazz. I'm planning to work on my inventions, it's just that... The project I'm working on right now requires a ghost component. I'm a little stuck without it."

"Like what?" Danny asked truly curious. "And what does it do?"

"I don't want to tell you guys until it's done or at least about to be done because it's my pride and joy, but as to what I need well that's simple; I need core ectoplasm which is practically impossible to get my hands on."

Now it was Jazz's turn to ask. "Why's that?"

"Well you see ghosts have two types of ectoplasm. The first is the regular, standard kind that flows through them. That's what they bleed if you injure them, it's their blood equivalent. The second type is core ectoplasm which is found only in a ghost's core. For ghosts, their core is their life. If it gets destabilized, destroyed, critically injured or drained too much they die." Danny seemed to pale at the news flash. "Core plasm is like bone marrow in the sense that it replenishes the regular ectoplasm that courses through them, that's one of the reasons it's so vital. For ghosts that don't invade Amity though and aren't in any danger of getting shot at, core plasm has another more crucial everyday role. Its denser nature produces a more... potent electromagnetic field which keeps the ghost stable, otherwise they'd dissipate or melt depending on their level of density."

Maddie paused and took several chugs of her still warm hazelnut coffee. "Neither of these qualities is why I need it though. That's just why it'll be so difficult to get. No ghost in their right mind would let anyone get deliberately near their core, let alone a ghost hunter and scientist trying to take a sample."

"So why _do_ you need it Mom?" Danny insisted.

Maddie got a calculating look in her. "That's a very good question Danny. If I were to ask you two what made a single ghost different from all the others around it would you be able to give me an answer?"

Danny and Jazz looked at each other. "Uh..."

"That's what I thought. The correct answer is their core. Just as human blood has certain protein markers that make it a specific type or charge, ectoplasm also has markers produced by the core that make it unique to a certain degree. Their electromagnetic field, which is the ghost equivalent of a finger print, is also give it's individualisticness by the core. You see a ghost's core is what gives that particular ghost its identity, that extends all the way to their abilities. _That _is why I need it."

"Um I see why a ghost's core is so important now, but I still don't see why you need one for your project." Danny stated.

"I need one because that's where a ghost gets it's abilities from. The Box Ghost's core gives him control over boxes, Ember's core allows her to manipulate the thoughts and emotions of people through auditory sense, Undergrowth's core lets him integrate with plants and will them to do whatever. If you could harness a ghost's core, essentially you could gain their powers."

The two high schoolers eyes widened. The idea was certainly groundbreaking and if it could actually be made possible then the results would be incredible. Danny's only problem was that he didn't want the technology made feasible if it meant destroying someone, even if they were technically an enemy.

"Alright enough about my day and my work, you kids need to get going so you're not late for school. Off you go." Jazz got up and went to the living room to get her bag and books while Danny stood by his chair looking down at his mother's coffee refusing to make eye contact. "I'll be out in the car Danny, if you're not out in three minutes I'm leaving without you." Jazz called out as she left the house.

"Mom?"

"Yes Danny?"

"You said if a ghost's core was drained too much they'd die."

"Well, maybe not die but cease to exist certainly."

"Would the amount of core plasm you need," he looked up at her and the blueness of his eyes seemed accented to Maddie by the deep sadness in them, "destroy the ghost you get it from?"

At this she frowned. "Honey, you remember how I said that core plasm regenerates standard ectoplasm?" She didn't wait for Danny to respond before continuing. "Well it also replenishes itself. If I wanted to kill the ghost then I could take a critical amount and let it destabilize, but I'm not vindictive enough to do that." _'At least not anymore' _she thought. "I'd take a small amount and let the ghost recover before taking anymore, like how doctors siphon only a limited amount of blood from any given person during a blood donation. If a patient wants to donate again they can after a set amount of days. Thankfully core ectoplasm is stable and very preservable under the right conditions and I'd be able to store it more than long enough to pile up a usable amount if I had a willing donor."

Maddie gave her half-ghost son a sad smile. "I know your father and I use to go on and on about destroying ghosts and vaporizing them and tearing them apart molecule by molecule and-" she stopped at Danny's wince. "The point is that we're changing Danny, our perception and ways, they're evolving as we learn more. I understand they're sentient now and I wouldn't destroy one if I could help it. I'll still chase them around and throw them back into the ghost zone where they belong, especially if they're causing trouble, but I'm not out to kill them."

The young scientist put a comforting hand on Danny's shoulder. "I know you and Jazz support Phantom avidly. I won't say anything against it because honestly, he's proving himself. But I wouldn't worry about him Danny because he's tough, I've seen him in action. The only way I'd get a needle in him for that sample was if it was with consent, and even then I wouldn't dream of hurting much less killing him."

"How come?" He asked shocked at his mother's words.

"Because he's the one ghost who's trying to make a difference," at this Maddie couldn't help but make a little jab, "even if he screws up and sometimes does more harm than good." Danny glared. "But he's improving. We can learn a lot from him and Phantom might prove to be an invaluable ally in the future. Besides," she ruffled Danny's hair, "he's just a kid and what kind of mother would I be if I went around destroying children deadness aside."

Danny straightened his hair out and gave his mom a doubtful grin. "That's your excuse?"

Maddie match his expression. "Get going before Jazz leaves without you... Again."

"Yeah that might be a good idea." Danny agreed running to the living room and grabbing his book bag before sprinting out the door.

Maddie shook her head at her son's antics and sat back stirring the metal spoon in her coffee around before taking another sip. The solid thumping of feet on steps made her look through the door way to the living room.

"Morning Mads, what's for breakfast?" Jack asked as he spotted her and made his way down the stairs.

xXxXxXxXxXx

True to her word, Jazz started pulling out of the driveway exactly three minutes after she got in the car and buckled up. She saw Danny running out of the house but didn't stop, knowing he didn't need her to. Instead the red head's little brother ran up beside the car and jumped in as he turned himself intangible. Once they were on their way Jazz asked what happened.

"What did you say to Mom?"

"...I wanted to know if the amount of core plasm she needed would kill the ghost she got it from."

"You mean you wanted to know if giving her what she needed would kill _you_." Jazz clarified.

"I wanted to know if any _victims_ she actively went _hunting_ for would die!" He snapped.

Jazz paused and focused on the road as her brothers response sank in.

"What did she say?" Jazz asked quietly.

"That she wouldn't kill the ghost she took the sample from."

xXxXxXxXxXx

The rest of the car ride passed in silence and within minutes the two siblings where pulling into a parking spot a block from the school. Getting out of the car, the Fentons walked the last bit to Caspar High and parted as Danny went to his first floor homeroom and Jazz went up the stair to her's.

Danny walked into 136 and to his seat in the back with nearly five minutes to spare before the bell rang. When he looked to the two seats to his right he saw them empty, of people at least as Sam's book bag sat on the ground leaning against the chair nearest Danny and a small pile of books and papers sat on the desk.

Shrugging the raven haired teen got out his English note book on flipped to the page he had taken notes on the day before. _Define vocab words _was written slanted in the Margin next to ten words.

Danny grabbed a pencil out of his back pack before reaching over to Sam's purple spider bag and opening it up to pull out a small pocket sized dictionary. _'How does Sam always seem to have just what everybody needs?' _He opened the book to the A's scanning the page for the word he needed. _Acquiesce, Acquire... Ah! Acquisition._ Next to the word Danny scribbled down the definition.

Acquisition- noun_: A_ _thing that has been gained, like a prize or a purchase._

He continued copying the definitions until he had defined all ten words. Flipping his notebook shut Danny smiled. For once he had his English done, maybe getting to school a little earlier had been worth it. Every five minutes counted in his fight for fitting homework time in and now he could work on his creative writing assignment. The poem wasn't due until the end of the week, but hey, it was better to get it out of the way now when he had the chance then to put it off last minute. Besides, he didn't mind Mr. Risoli's class and this wasn't the kind of homework he felt the need to procrastinate on- that was reserved for essays, projects, and major assignments.

Danny reopened his notebook and turned to the back. As soon as he wrote 'Meaning of the World' at the top Sam walked in. He looked up and flashed her a warm smile as she sat down.

"I was with Mr. Freeman." The goth explained before Danny could even ask.

"Ah." The music teacher, Sam was likely getting some last minute practice in before the Thursday concert. "You'll do just fine Sam, I've seen you play, you're amazing."

"I know. My parents beat those lessons into me when I was little, or Ms. Joyce did, but the point is I know I'm good. I'm not nervous about the concert at all, _he _wanted to make sure I was good, not the other way around."

"Well he has a right to be nervous; this is his first time having a student play the accompaniment... By the way do you know where Tucker is? Homeroom's almost over and he's not usually late." Danny asked.

"I think he said something about a doctor's appointment today."

"Oh that's right. He mentioned it getting his eyes checked for new glasses. I guess he'll come in later then."

"Probably." Sam agreed.

The bell rung and Danny and Sam moved to their assigned seat for English, for Danny that was the front row, forth seat from the right, for Sam that meant the desk diagonally adjacent to Danny's left, the desk right in front of the window.

Students came filing in, along with Mr. Lancer, and took their seats. Once the bell had rung the balding teacher took attendance. "Only Mr. Foley appears to be absent." He noted on his attendance roster. "Now then class, take out your homework. You had to define the ten words from yesterday."

xXxXxXxXxXx

"I can't believe I got detention! I didn't even start that fight that was all Dash!" Danny exclaimed to his two friends on their way to his locker.

"Forget starting the fight dude, you didn't even get _in _it. You never throw a punch. I honestly don't know how Lancer can call you out for not doing anything."

They stopped in front of locker 427 and Danny dropped his book bag to the floor. "Exactly. Why do I have to stay 30 minutes after school?" He fished for his history book in his pack then swapped it with the math book inside the locker. Zipping his bag up he slung it over his shoulder and walked to 136.

"I take more issue with the fact that Dash got off scott free again." Sam said as they passed other students at their own lockers. "I mean if you get in trouble then so should he. It's not fair that just because he's the star quarter back he gets to live above school law. What kind of blatant favoritism is that?"

"The really annoying kind I wish I could suck into a Fenton thermos." Danny replied dryly.

"Don't we all."

"What I don't understand is how Lancer could give you detention for something so trivial after what you did for him. You think he'd be at least a little nicer to you after giving him a play signed by his idol." Tucker pointed out.

"I know and he has, Lancer hasn't been grilling me if I 'forget' to do the homework." They stopped in front of the English room. "Not that I forget much anymore. I've been getting better."

"Miracles do happen after all." Sam joked. "Anyway don't forget to come to my house when you get out, today's hangout Wednesday. We won't start the movie without you so don't worry." Sam reminded him before leaving with Tucker.

Danny trudged into the room and took a seat in the front by the door.

"Ah, so good of you to come... and on time to. Twice in one day Mr. Fenton, what's the occasion?"

"I'm breaking my habitual tardiness so it doesn't follow me around for life." The halfa parroted using his mother's words from earlier.

Mr. Lancer nodded his head. "Very prudent decision."

"Gee thanks." Danny muttered taking his math book and notebook out. He turned to page 174 and ripped out a blank sheet of paper from his note book. At the top he wrote 'P. 174 1-15' and his name.

"Daniel, do you know why I gave you detention?"

"Yeah, I do. I think the better question is why you didn't give it to Dash as well." He challenged in annoyance.

Mr. Lancer sighed. "I didn't give you the detention as a punishment Danny." The middle aged man said getting out of his chair and walking over to his student. "I gave it to you because you seem to be in need of time for homework and I figure this is the perfect time. I can make sure you stay focused and if you have any trouble I can help. I think that sound like a pretty good idea, how about you?"

"I'd prefer you not call it 'detention' then and it not go on my file." It was long enough and he hadn't even gone through half of his high school career.

"You can think of it as a mandatory after school study session then and as for it being on file, I never reported the fight so it isn't going on your record. I know I'm not your favorite teacher Danny, but I don't need to be in order to help you."

"I still don't see how this is 'helping'."

"I'm giving you a chance to do your work. There are no distractions here so you should be able, if you actually try, to get a large chunk of your assignments done." Mr. Lancer got up, "Now I leave you to your math." and walked back to his chair to start grading some old tests he hadn't yet gotten to.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"So, anything interesting happen today?" Tucker asked as the two walked down River Road.

"Nothing besides 'what are the odds' getting out of control in chemistry."

"Ow." Tucker winced. "That could be dangerous."

"Oh it was. Dash asked Quan 'what are the odds you can make an explosion, mini one dude like in a beaker.'"

"What happened?"

"They both said four and next thing I know we're getting herded out of the building with the fire alarm screeching almost as loudly as Mr. Falluca." The goth replied.

"That was _you_?" Tucker asked incredulously.

Sam shrugged. "It wasn't technically _me,_ but yeah it was my class."

"That got me out of my Computer Graphics presentation, thanks."

"You're welcome, but you should be thanking Dash or Quan if you wanted to thank someone and they really don't deserve it for almost blowing up the science lab."

"It's not like I was wishing for something like that to happen I was just hoping to go tomorrow. I stayed up _all night_ to get my power point done, and wouldn't you know, I was too dead to the world this morning to remember to bring my flash drive with me to school today."

"Though break, I think I had something like that happen onc- Tucker duck!" Sam screamed as a missile came rocketing towards them. The two dived to ground as the explosive passed over their heads and into a speed limit sign creating the second explosion Sam witnessed that day.

"Well well well. I figured the whelp would be with you two since he's constantly sticking like glue but I guess that's not the case today." Skulker drawled appraising the prey in front of him. "I usually reserve my wall for exotic things and humans are exactly a rarity, but I'm willing to make an exception seeing as how I don't have the head or pelt of one and it might make the ghost child take me seriously."

The hunter raised his arm and several guns assembled from his suit. "For your sake I hope you've picked up some of the ghost boy's skill because I don't like boring hunts." And with that he fired.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Mr. Lancer who invented villanelles?"

"I assume you mean the poetry form popular in England during Shakespeare's time?"

"Yeah, they suck."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you keep repeating the first and last line of stanza one and I don't feel like you can say everything you want to because of that. With the other sections you only get two other lines and you have to base them around the original repeating lines. Not to mention that they need to rhyme and you have to use ten syllables per line, so if you have nine you gotta stretch it somehow and if you have eleven you gotta condense it while still keeping the meaning the same and making it sound nice."

"I didn't peg you for the poetry type Mr. Fenton but it certainly feels nice to know you are familiar with such a beautiful form. Tell me what brought this on?"

"Creative writing. I have to create a villanelle for this Friday and I hate how it's turning out."

"Why don't I take a look at what you have so far?" Mr. Lancer suggested getting up.

"No! You can't! I-I mean, it's not any good why waste your time?"

Mr. Lancer didn't look very convinced and snatched the paper out of his student's hands. "I may be blind but I want you to see/ That even in this dark world there is light/ That you, Sam Manson, mean the world to me." He read out loud. Danny turned beet red and looked like he wanted to turn invisible or intangible so he could sink through the floor. Or possibly both as Lancer switched his gaze from the paper to him.

"Why Mr. Fenton I don't know what you're talking about this is very good. Villanelles are commonly about love and your two rhyme schemes look like they'd work out. Besides you seem like you could put a lot of passion into this one, you just need to stop over thinking it."

"I have to think about it because I need to count syllables."

"Here's a tip; think about what you want to say, then write it before you count. If the line is too long use more monosyllabic words and if you can add contraction. If the line is too short use another word that has the same meaning but is longer. The key though is to have a base line that says what you want it to and then modify it. Everything needs a base before you can go making major changes."

"Thanks, I'll try that."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Tucker jumped behind a bench while Sam somersaulted out of the way and jumped to her feet wrist ray poised and fired a shot that Skulker easily dodged. She pulled a laser lipstick out of her pocket and hit the little side button twice as the ghost shot another ecto-blast this time from his hand. Two ecto-beams hit and canceled each other out clearing the way for Sam's second shot to hit the suited ghost. Skulker was knocked several feet back in the air and now sported a burn mark on his chest plate.

"So you can put up a little fight. That's good because it would shame me to hunt something that couldn't defend itself."

"Tucker, a little help here!" Sam hissed.

"With what! I don't have anything other than a thermos unless you have an extra lipstick blaster."

"No but I have a second wrist ray. Catch!" She threw him a small bracelet that he caught and put on.

"That's what I'm talking about. Eat this Skulker!" Tucker shouted firing several shots of his own. The ghost with a flaming mohawk turned intangible for a second to avoid being hit.

The tactic would have worked if Sam hadn't gotten behind him and taken a shot a few moments after Tucker. The first five ecto-blasts that Tucker fired passed harmlessly through while the sixth one Sam shot clipped Skulker's jet pack as he turned tangible. Skulker started falling and before he could correct his descent or fire another blast at the two humans, Tucker pressed the green button on the thermos and Skulker was sucked in.

"That clip shot was pure luck and we both know it. When Danny comes over we're discussing getting an upgrade." Sam announced as Tucker stuffed the thermos into his bag and the two continued on their way.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Alright Mr. Fenton it's been forty-five minutes, you should probably get going before your friends think you ditched them."

"They'd never think that, but I probably should leave. I finished my math, creative writing and history. Now all I have left is English."

"I find it odd that you start my homework last considering I'm right here." Mr. Lancer stated.

"That's kinda why I didn't do it yet. I didn't want you watching me do it. That'd be awkward." Danny explained.

"As long as you do it Mr. Fenton I don't really care. The purpose of homework is to reinforce what you learned in class and expand upon it. If you feel you can better do that alone then that is your business, but now that I know that is the only homework you have as of right now, I do expect it done for tomorrow."

"Yes Mr. Lancer."

"Very well then, I will see to you in class tomorrow."

Danny stood up and started putting his books and papers away. When he was ready Danny walked out of the class shouting a 'bye' to his teacher as he did so.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Danny flew to Sam's and phased through her front door and first floor to get to the basement. "Hey guys." He announced transforming back to his human half.

"Someone's in an awfully good mood considering he just got out of a detention that ran late." Sam observed.

"Actually yeah. Turns out Lancer didn't write me up for that fight and he gave me 'detention' so that I could have some uninterrupted time to do my homework which really helped. I got my math, creative writing, and history done in those forty-five minutes."

"That's great dude. I'm glad Lancer doesn't have it in for you cause that would suck and you honestly don't deserve it."

"I'm glad to but listen Danny, while you were doing school work me and Tucker were fighting off Skulker."

"What?"

"Yeah, he was looking for you and figured that since we're always together we'd be his best bet." Tucker said.

"That's terrible. Are you guys alright?"

Tucker nodded. "We're fine. Sam clipped him and I managed to get him into the thermos, but we both know that that was more luck than anything else."

"We're better that your average run of the mill person, much better actually, but the point is we don't have ghost powers. We're kind of like Skulker in the sense that we rely on technology to augment our abilities and I'm feeling like we need an upgrade." She finished.

"So you want me to talk to me parents and see what's new?" Danny guessed.

"Yep." The two said together.

"I'll see what I can do when I get home. But in the mean time… you wouldn't happen to have Captain America 2 would you Sam?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Danny walked up the driveway of FentonWorks enjoying the crisp night air. As much as he loved flying, sometimes he preferred to walk and enjoy the leisurely pace he went at that wasn't hundreds of miles per hour. Climbing the front steps the teen grabbed his house key from the front pocket of his pants and inserted the brass object into the lock. Turning it left produced a small familiar metal click and Danny pushed the now unlocked door open.

Not wanting to carry his back pack around, the halfa went upstairs to his room first and unloaded his stuff before coming back down. Going into the kitchen Danny saw his mom sitting at the table cooking dinner. "Chicken?" he asked taking in the roasting smell.

"Yep. With stuffed potatoes," she motioned at the spuds in front of her, "and zucchini bread on the side."

"Sounds delicious... So Mom, there was a ghost attack today and-"

"Did somebody say ghost?!" Jack shouted barging into the kitchen.

'_How is it that I'm the one who's half ghost and he's the one that manages to materialize out of thin air?'_

"Yeah Dad. Sam and Tucker were walking home and got attacked. They're fine! Completely and totally fine." He assured them when his mother gave him a worried look. "But they had some trouble defeating him and I was wondering if you had anything new that might help them next time."

"Sure but what about you Danno? Don't you need something to?"

"Um yeah, of course I do. Got something in mind?"

"You betcha! Come down to the lab and we'll show you what we've been working on!" Jack announced excitedly.

The three filed down the steps to the lab and Danny raised his eyes at the mess he saw all around him. '_Damn, it looks like a tornado passed through here.' _He thought.

"Sorry about the mess Sweetie." Maddie said guessing her son's thoughts. "We were getting really into things and didn't get a chance to clean up."

"That's okay." He said. "So what were you gonna show me Dad?"

"This!" Jack announced beaming with pride. "I call it the Fenton Taser. One shot and they're out like a light. See it gives ghosts a disruptive electrical shock that temporarily renders them paralyzed and/or unconscious."

"Wow, that's handy." Danny said honestly impressed. "How long is temporarily?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I'd say an hour or two." Jack guessed.

Danny grinned. '_This could come in handy and if that's all it actually does then I shouldn't have to worry about Jazz hitting me with it either.'_

"But wait there's more! May I present the Vision Visor! It lets you see ghosts when they're invisible, that way they can't get away from or sneak up on you. It's not much of a weapon but then again you can hit what you can't see so I think it'll come in handy. And finally there's the intangibility spray."

"Intangibility spray? You can make something like that?"

"Yep and it's all thanks to your amazing mother. She figured out how to isolate that particular function of ectoplasm and created a synthetic protein so that we could replicate the effects."

"I can also make it from regular ectoplasm if I refine and filter it enough but I'd need a relatively large amount. It's a 1 to 10 ratio because for the spray to work the proteins need to be highly concentrated and I also have to remove a lot of other components from the ectoplasm that usually make it toxic to humans. Interestingly if exposed to small doses of the toxins, the body seems to develop a natural resistance, kind of like how you can take someone with a peanut allergy and introduce small quantities of peanut oil to them to make them less allergic." Maddie explained.

"Neat. Can I see?"

"Of course Danny. Just need to find it first."

Maddie chuckled as she watched her husband run around the lab trying to the bottle that she knew the location of. "I think it's still in the RV Jack. We used up the sample we had in here today, remember?"

"Oh that's right. Hold on a second Son I'll be right back." Jack announced bounding up the stair with impressive speed considering his bulky size.

"While your father is hunting for that why don't I show you some of my stuff?" Maddie suggested.

"Didn't Dad just do that?" Danny asked confused.

Maddie walked over to her cleaner, but still a bit messy part of the lab. "We work together on some projects but there are a lot that we work on separately. If we hit a road block then we ask the other for help, but we get more done this way since sometimes we but heads and each have our own area of expertise. This for example is one of mine."

The auburn haired scientist picked up a weird looking black matte glove and showed it to Danny. The center of the back had a small glass dome embedded into the material which looked like some flexible metal polymer. Looking inside the glass Danny could see multiple fine opening in the material below the bottom of the glass which extended into the glove. They reminded him of veins.

"What is it Mom?"

"What I was telling you about earlier today before school."

It took Danny but a moment to remember his mother's conversation from this morning. Her invention which could potentially replicate a ghosts abilities. The one that she had hit a bit of a barrier on, one that he could get her past. An idea that had transcended what he thought possible.

He gently took the glove from his mother and gave it a closer looking over now knowing what it was. '_Veins is right' _the half ghost thought looking at the openings again. He had a pretty good idea of what they were for. The core plasm would go in the glass and the 'veins' would allow it to flow through the rest of the glove similar to human veins allowing blood to flow from the heart to other areas of the body.

The only part that stumped him was how they hell the thing worked. He understood his mother's reasoning of why it could grant the wearer a ghost's abilities. If she had been the one to refine the intangibility spray then it was very likely that she did have a theory on how to get the glove to work but Danny hadn't the slightest clue as to how she was planning on doing it. One ability, like say intangibility, was easier to reproduce then several and he had a feeling that the intangibility they had produced was not controllable like his was. It was forced from the high concentrations of whatever protein produced the effects, that's why his mother had been very clear about needing the serum potent.

"Mom how are you planning to control this? To switch between powers like invisibility, intangibility, cryokanisis, and ecto firing I mean?" The glove had no 'brain' to direct the users will of different skills. With Danny, his ghost form was like his human form, he thought about something and his brain or core gave an electrical impulse that willed his body to do it.

"An excellent question Honey. There's another part to this, though I haven't quite finished the neuro transmitter or the conversion chip. I'm planning on have a device worn on the head that picks up the users brain waves and transmits them to a chip in the glove which converts the 'thoughts' into an impulse signaling the core plasm to change function. But no more about my baby till she's done, alright?"

Danny nodded setting the glove down and the two started moving back towards the stair until Danny spotted a very small jar fill with a dozen inch long glowing green capsules. They looked like magic crystals with their twisted glass pattern and brilliant green glow. He stopped and tilted his head at the sight. '_They're beautiful but...' _"What are they?"

"CACs." Maddie answered simply.

"Okay, what _are_ they?" Danny tried again. "What do they _do_?"

"They're one of several new projects I started a few months ago, Core Amplification Capsules or CACs. They're filled with a highly concentrated, supercharged form of ectoplasm that gives ghosts a quick energy boost and temporarily amplifies their natural abilities, like an adrenaline shot for a ghost. It's meant for if one running on empty and likely injured."

Now that perked him up. A quick recharge was something he had desperately needed on more than one occasion, usually on busy days that required him patrolling for hours after a hectic day of school only to get home and stay up for another hour or two doing homework. Despite his improvement in staying awake at school, those occasions left him crashing the next day, usually during first period English when he had yet to fully awaken.

"That is _so _cool!" It was then that something else hit him. "By the way Mom, what are they for? I mean I get the energy drink thing, but how does this help you fight ghosts? Why did you make them?" His mother tolerating ghosts was already a big step for her in Danny's mind. This though... this was a bit out of the blue.

"Oh they're meant for..." '_when you're hurt and tired and refuse to take a break'_ "if I capture a ghost that I can take core plasm from. They amplify all abilities including healing and the production of ectoplasm." Maddie covered up reasonably.

"That's real nice of you. So um how long does it take to make one of those?" If they were kind of easy to produce then he could afford to sneak some on a semi regular basis.

"It depend on how much ectoplasm I have available. If we leave the portal door open the de-ectofier filters more ectoplasm out of the air for me to work with. Once I have enough for a batch it takes maybe four and a half to five weeks."

_So I only take one when I really need one. Got it._

"These haven't been tested though so I don't know how effective they are." Maddie told her son as they reached the area just in front of the steps.

"I found it!" Jack exclaimed charging down to them. "Right in the RV like you said Mads." He turned to Danny. "Alright Danno hold out you hand." Danny did as instructed and looked at his dad patiently. "Now I'm going to warn you, it may feel odd and you might not be able to feel your hand while the spray is active, but I don't want you freaking out. Your mother and I have tested it out on several objects first and then ourselves, we know it's safe. Ready?" He asked.

Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes having gone intangible and on a full body scale more times than he could remember. "Ready."

Jack gave the bottle a quick vigorous shake before uncapping it and pushing down on the nozzle. A misty stream of almost but not quite clear liquid shot out, spraying the half ghost's hand. Within seconds Danny felt a familiar tingle on his hand as it lost all sensation of the outside world. Heat, light, air, and everything else in the physical realm passed through the nerves, never stimulating them.

'_Amazing. I didn't think this would actually work. I mean creating synthetic intangibility sounds like science fiction but this is real and I bet mom's glove idea is just as real'. _Danny stared at his hand in fascination, marveling at the feat his mother had just accomplished. '_This isn't controllable for a human, but I wonder...'_

Danny reached out to grab the bottle from his watching parents and, like he had assumed, his hand went through it at first. Concentrating discretely Danny willed his hand to emit the energy required for self intangibility and once again grabbed for the glass. This time his hand made contacted as his energy enveloped the bottle waiting for him to signal for it to turn active and intangify the object. He lifted the bottle out of his father's hand and looked at it. It seemed so ordinary, nothing stood out in the clear glass or the translucent contents.

"How long does this stuff last?"

Jack stood there staring at his son. He had expected more of a reaction, whether of shock or disbelief or alarm or anything really. What he had got was one of almost amusement, like Danny though having his hand suddenly able to pass through objects was a novel experience. In addition to what Jack wasn't expecting was Danny being able to grab the bottle out of his hands. It hadn't been turned intangible, Jack had clearly felt the bottle being pulled and while he would be curious as to how his son was able to spread the intangibility to the bottle, the fact that he hadn't and had instead grabbed the thing while his hand was immaterial was even more dumbfounding.

"As long as you want. It needs to be neutralized for it to stop because we don't have direct control over it to tell the proteins to stop. The Fenton Faser is our primary grounder." Maddie answered for her stunned husband.

Danny set the container down on a nearby desk, letting the energy dissipate as it made contact. "Is there another way to neutralize this besides the Faser?" Danny asked not wanting to be accidentally knocked out.

"Not that we've tried kiddo, but don't worry the Fenton Faser doesn't hurt, you just feel a small shock. Nothing worse than static electricity." His father assured him fetching the device.

"Uh, you know maybe I'll try it later, I mean this is such a neat experience I wouldn't want to cut it short."

"Nonsense you can demonstrate it to your friends tomorrow. Just bring 'em over." Jack said aiming the playing card sized metal box at Danny's hand and pressing the button.

A small spark hit Danny and he squeezed his eyes waiting for unconsciousness to come or to fall down unable to move. When neither happened he opened eyes and stared at the device questioningly.

"See! This puppy's only wired to effect ghosts." Jack boomed.

Maddie smiled at her son and his confusion. She was the reason why he wasn't on the floor unmoving from either paralysis or black out.

After figuring out that the serum need a neutralizer the Fenton Faser was the first thing to pop into both party's heads. Maddie had been worried that the device would have an effect on humans as well ghosts and she had convinced Jack to put a power dial on it. The lowest setting was as Jack had said barely more than a bad static shock which could still cancel the intangibility. At that level, short term power disruption was about all it could do and she was certain that if Danny tried to make his hand intangible or invisible right then and there he would have found himself unable. The highest setting however had the potential to be lethal for both ghost and human and Maddie had installed a lock herself on level 10 so that it couldn't be used, unless she unlocked it.

"Alight Danny, here are three Vision Visors, two Fenton Faser, and you can have the rest of the intangibility mix tomorrow after you give your friends a demo." Jack announced handing Danny the five items. "I hope that helps you take down any ghost scum that comes your way."

"Thanks Dad. You guys are awesome." Danny gave his parents a hug and went over to the stairs. "It's been a long day and I have school tomorrow so I'm going to bed. I had dinner at Sam's and I finished my homework so I'm all set. See you in the morning, good night." He called heading up.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Cool, refreshing air whipped through Danny's hair as he flew around the town making sure there were no unwelcomed visitors. Few things annoyed him more than getting settled for the night only to be gotten up as a ghost made its presence known, so before he was ready for bed Danny was determined to see to it that there were none. It being early only added to his excuse. Usually Danny stayed up until twelve or later so 10:30 to him was early enough to give him trouble falling asleep.

As he made his final round the teen passed over the park and decided to take a break from his almost finished chore. Finding a quiet spot by the lake he sat down and took out his sketch book.

'_It's such a beautiful night' _he though as his eyes drifted over the water. Silver light shone down from the crescent moon casting a slight glow over the dark navy blue surface. With no breezes blowing on the ground the lake looked like a piece of polished mirror reflecting the very visible stars, moon, and few drifting clouds. The scene was picturesque and Danny found himself starting to sketch the scene before him without even realizing it. Before long the rough sketch started taking shape as Danny relaxed more and more into the serenity of the gentle evening.

*crack*

His head snapped up and over his shoulder at the sound of a branch breaking behind him.

'_I really need to put in a program that differentiates Phantom's signature from the other ghosts' _Maddie sighed to herself as she came into view and their eyes met.

"What are you doing out?" Phantom asked not used to his mother leaving the house so late at night (not that it was _that _late).

She bit back her immediate 'what do you think _you're _doing out' and answered "Taking a stroll to clear my head. I was busy in my lab all day and I wanted a break. I think that's understandable and reasonable, don't you?"

"Yeah I can imagine you need time to breath away from your home."

Truth be told Maddie had gone out to do a mini patrol of her own so that Danny wouldn't be woken up by anyone or anything. What she hadn't known was that her son was already going out and was half way done by the time she had gotten out of the house. Her pass by the park had her detector blinking and she had gone to see who it was.

"So what are _you _doing? Clearly not patrol." '_Or sleeping like you said.'_

Phantom shrugged. "I was mostly finished with my sweep and decided to take a well deserved break. It's still kinda early and taking a quiet flight or doing some sketching calms me down. My days are pretty busy to." Phantom patted the ground next to him in silent invitation.

Maddie walked over and sat down where he had indicated. She looked at the lake and then stole a glance at Phantom's drawing. It was good. Very rough, yes, but it was clearly in its early stages and that was to be expected. Maybe instead of being an astronaut he could be an artist.

"So how's your family?" he asked looking her over then turning back to his work and drawing some quick outline marks.

"Hectic and lovable as always. Who do you want to hear about first?"

"Let's start with you." Phantom suggested.

"I'm tired but today was a good day. I've hit an impasse with my main project so I've been refining older ones all day and I made progress. That's pretty much it though, I was down in my lab all day, came up to cook dinner and then I was with Danny and Jack for a little while."

"Alright, how are your husband and kids?"

"Jack was in almost the same boat only his project wasn't giving him too much trouble and my kids had school today. Jazz was supposed to present a project but said something about a fire drill interrupting her right as she opened her mouth to start speaking." She paused as Phantom had a light coughing fit. "She was fuming about it when she came home but other than that her day was uneventful. I don't know what Danny had as his highlight of the day but it was probably when he got a taste of your powers."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Jack and I created a synthetic spray that imitates intangibility and Danny wanted a demonstration." Maddie stopped for a second as something flashed through her mind. "I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"If you made your hand immaterial, could you still pick something up?"

Phantom set his paper and pencil down on his lap. Keeping a straight face he intangified his hand and phased it through Maddie's arm to show her that it was indeed immaterial. With her eyes following Phantom's every move Maddie watched as he grabbed her ghost detector and gave her a triumphant grin.

"How? I mean it's not intangible to right?"

"Nope." Phantom replied giving the device a few very gentle taps on the ground to demonstrate his point.

"Intangibility has two parts to it." He set the detector down and solidified his hand. "Before I, or any ghost really, can make something intangible we exert an energy." The halfa picked the ghost detector again, but this time his hand was covered in a transparent pale green glow that was slowly spreading to her invention. "I'm no expert on the scientific mumbo jumbo so I can't give you a detailed technical explanation, but as a ghost I can kinda give you the gist of it... The energy is passive like this. It has the potential to turn itself and anything enveloped within it intangible. I just will it to turn active and it immaterializes whatever it's covering." He narrowed his eyes for the briefest of seconds and then phased his hand, device and all, through the ground.

Maddie blinked as the detector slipped effortlessly through the earth then found its way back to her belt clip. Focusing her attention on it, she felt the slight weigh as gravity pulled on it, in turn pulling ever so slightly on her belt.

"You can grab things even if you're intangible as long as they're covered in the energy because you won't phase through that." Phantom explained.

"I wonder if I can recreate that energy. It's kind of a pain having the intangibility so uncontrolled. I don't know how useful it would be in battle against ghosts. You pretty much just said that any ghost can easily get around the spray."

"That's only for the ghost itself. You're still safe from the energy attacks they throw or objects that are in your way. I admit it has its short comings and that anything you or any other scientist creates probably won't ever be quite as good as the genuine article, but it's still pretty cool that you managed to replicate intangibility as much as you did. How many other people could have done what you did?"

Maddie let out a long sigh. "Thanks." She looked over at his book again and melted on the inside. In his drawing Phantom had started drawing her staring up at the moon next to him, but without the finer detail it could have easily been mistaken for her sitting next to Danny. "So what's new with you Phantom?"

"Not much. Same routine as usually, kinda like you. Get up, fly around keeping an eye out for trouble makers. Pretty uneventful today but considering my work, that's a good thing." He gave her another looking over but longer this time as he took in her position and expression observing how the light hit Maddie's face and body and the shadows formed. The curves and creases in her suit, how the grass bent under her weight and the slight, barely noticeable sway of her hair in the almost nonexistent breeze were also filed in his mind as he silently went back to drawing.

Maddie for her part sat gazing at the lake enjoying her son's company. She had wanted more bonding time with Danny and if this was how she'd get it, then that was ok. There were no ghosts attacking, no people bothering them, no place they needed to be... the world was at peace as she leaned back on her hands with her legs stretched out in front of her. Mother Nature seemed asleep with the lack of noises (save for the slight scratch of graphite on paper from Phantom's sketching). For now the young scientist was content and wanted to stay as she was for a short while.

. . . . .

Time passed and the moon gently crept across the sky as the two sat in front of the lake taking advantage of relaxing view. Finally after some time Maddie broke the silence. "I'm going to head home Phantom, it's late. We've been here for two hours and I need to get up in the morning to drag my teenagers out of bed. You should get going to, to where ever you spend your nights."

"I'll get going in a few minutes, I just want another ten to finish up. Besides as much as I enjoyed the company, I originally wanted a little alone time and you showed up literally minutes after I got here." He gave his legs a quick stretch. "I'll go shortly don't worry."

"Alright, I'll see you around. Goodnight Phantom."

"Goodnight." Phantom replied.

Danny waited a minute before closing his sketchbook and lying down. He grabbed at the grass and tossed a small handful into the air watching as it floated down onto his suit. Staring out into space his mind wondered. '_Why couldn't all nights be like this? No ghosts, no homework when I get back, perfect whether, an overall pleasant mood._ _I wish I could capture this moment and preserve it like how the ancient Egyptians preserved their dead to last 5000 years…' _He closed his eyes. '_How did that saying go? 'If change is a part of life... how cruel is that kindness.''_

Sitting up he gave the crystal lake a final look then held true to his word and took to the air. Leisurely passing through the rest of the park Danny spotted several patches of flowers and decided to pick some. He gathered several varieties of daisies, marigolds, carnation, petunias, lilies, and morning glories. Carefully he arranged them into a make shift bouquet and slowed his pace even further to avoid damaging the flowers.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Finally arriving home Danny phased through the door and into the kitchen. Still in ghost form he went to a small drawer next to the refrigerator and grabbed a pair of orange handled scissors he used to neatly trim the flower stems. Putting the scissors back Danny snuck over to the cabinet adjacent to the one directly under the sink. Opening it he frowned. '_Where did all the vases go? There were like half a dozen in here yesterday when I went to get the punch bowl where did they all go?'_

Eye twitching he stood up and walked over to the table as a light bulb went off inside his head. Taking a couple of second to picture it, Danny gathered cryokinetic energy into his right hand and steadily created his own vase. _'Perfect.'_

He picked his ice vase up and filled it half way with water before setting the flowers into it and giving them a final arrangement. Walking to the fridge he took a piece of paper from the pad usually used for the shopping lists and wrote a brief note. Danny put the note in front of the vase and appraised his handy work. It needed one last touch. Lifting his hand again Danny sculpted a single ice rose with his powers in the very center of the bouquet. Satisfied with his art Danny flew through the ceiling up to his room and transformed before hopping in bed for the night.

xXxXxXxXxXx

(Several minutes earlier)

The two FentonWorks inventors were diligently straightening up the lab so that it would be easier to work in the next day. Jack was boxing some left over scraps that Danny could throw in the shed tomorrow while Maddie finished organizing her papers and data before moving on to wash off the desk the information was sitting on. Finally Jack moved the last box to the left of the stairs and gave his back a quick crack.

"I'm going to get some fudge Maddie then I'm heading to bed. You should come up soon."

"I will Jack, I'm just emptying the de-ectofier and then I'm gonna give it quick cleaning. It's been two weeks since I scrubbed it out last and it's getting grimy. I need it grim free if I want to make use of the filtered ectoplasm it collects."

"You're really something, you know that? Who else would be able to take ectoplasm out of the air and turn it into a power source?" Jack shook his head. "What did I do to deserve a prize like you?"

"Aw Jack, I'm just as lucky to have met someone like you."

Jack laughed at that and went up the stairs to the kitchen. Just as he got to the top he saw a faint glow coming from behind the door and he paused so he could carefully peeked in. The orange clad man was greeted by the sight of Phantom mulling over a vase in thought.

'_What the hell is he doing in my house? And what is hell is he doing?' _He though reaching for and ecto-gun.

* _he's different... promise me you won't blindly fire away because he's a ghost. Can you do that for me Jack__? *_

Maddie's words echoed in his head and Jack lowered his weapon reluctantly as Phantom raised his glowing blue right hand and did something to the flowers in the vase. Nodding to himself Phantom flew through the ceiling leaving Jack alone.

'_Uh..._ _That was weird.' _Jack warily stepped into the kitchen and looked around the room almost expecting the ghost to suddenly pop back in. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he walked up to the table and picked up the note.

_Dear Maddie,_

_Thanks for the company. If you_

_ever want me to test something_

_(provided that it _isn't _possible lethal)_

_or need a favor, just let me know._

_I'll see you around._

_-Phantom_

Setting the note back down, Jack looked at the flowers. They were pretty. Clearly not anywhere near as nice as the professionally grown and arranged flowers found at the store, but the bouquet had a homemade sorta feel that added to the overall appeal of it. What stood out was the beautiful white rose that sparkled like a diamond in the center. Taking a closer look he realized why, the flower was made entirely of ice. Jack had to admit that he was impressed, the level of detail right down to the petal creases and underside capillaries was astonishing. It took a lot of skill to create something like what Phantom had apparently made.

'_Me and Maddie really need to talk.' _The clock struck one and let out a low metal chime. '_Tomorrow when the kids are at school and we're in the lab alone and not tired.'_

He grabbed a stick of peanut butter fudge out of the fridge and went upstairs to the master bedroom.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Yawning Maddie made her way to the kitchen fridge to get a glass of milk. She knew it was a little childish but she had never outgrown her love of milk, especially right before bed. The only difference was that she hated it heated, that ruined the taste in her mind, so she poured a fresh-from-the-fridge cold glass every night.

It was only when she sat down to drink her milk that she noticed the vase and flowers. '_I thought I moved all the vases to the lab for that experiment. Where did this one come from?'_

Looking at the design she noticed a beautiful park dotted great pine trees shooting up towards the star filled sky illuminated by a tiny crescent moon hanging in it. A small potato shaped lake fed by a narrow stream sat in the center of the park surrounded by several mini hills, one of which had two people sitting on it, surrounded the still waters. She couldn't make out the people because they were so minuscule but Maddie had a pretty good feeling she knew who the two figures were.

She ran her hand over who she assumed where her and Danny and stopped. The vase was as cold as ice. She picked it up and examined it. '_This _is _ice.' _she thought putting the vase down. Studying the flowers she noticed that the center rose was also ice. A very lovely and delicately made piece that shone like glitter in the dim light streaming through the window.

Finishing her milk she took the note and walked over to the sink as she read the writing. When she was done, Maddie tucked the paper into her jump suit and went back to the flowers.

'_Dad did always say to stop and smell the roses.'_ She gave the rainbow of plants a long inhale enjoying the sweet smell.

After a minute Maddie went upstairs and halted as she reached Danny's room. Giving in she opened the door and peeked in on him. She smiled at Danny's sleeping form when he rolled over so that his body was facing her. Maddie whispered a silent goodnight and thank you to him as she shut the door and continued to her and Jack's room.

**A/N**:

I finished! And oh God look how long this is- over 10,000 words. I have officially more than doubled my story's length with this one chapter. I hope everyone had a merry Christmas filled with wonderful gifts. My Dad (with help from a very special friend of the family) got me a Kurikara replica so I was crying and hugging him and thinking that overall Christmas wasn't so bad because Rin is freaking awesome and I have a remake of his sword now.

For anyone not familiar with 'what are the odds' it's a very simple game that my class takes way too far. Basically one person initiates it by saying "-a person's name- what are the odds you would -picks something the person could do-" the person that was asked responds with "one in -gives an even 10 between 10 and 50 depending on how likely they are to do it-" Then both people count to three and give a number between one and the decided on max. If both people say the say number, the task is done. So "Quan what are the odds you would create a mini explosion inside one of these beakers?" "Uh, One in twenty Dash." "OK 1, 2, 3... 4!" Quan now is expected to create an explosion. My Bio class hasn't done something _that _bad but... let's just say I was very much inspired by them when I thought of this.

Moving on to the intangibility theory. Anyone who has watched Phantom Planet which is the ending to Danny Phantom should be a little familiar with this. The ghosts secrete this green energy which covers the main conductor just before they turn it intangible, I assume this is a pre-intangible energy that is passive in a sense because the giant metal pole is enveloped in it but still very much solid and it takes the ghosts turning intangible and 'activating' the energy to turn the conductor immaterial as well.

Next a few side comments: 1- don't know how many people are familiar with haiju's work but there was a short called 'Acquisition' that was on her tumblr. Danny's vocab was a little reference to that. 2- Sam comes from a filthy rich family and I always pictured her knowing piano because in my mind when you're wealthy you teach your kids some musical instrument to make them more refined, usually either piano or violin. 3- Locker 427 is the cursed locker 724 backwards. 4- The fight scene. No flaming please I already know it's not the best. It amazes me how many action scenes one can read, from multiple fandoms no less, and still be unable to write a good scuffle. 5- The quote Danny is remembering about changing being a cruel kindness is from _Fruits Basket _vol 21 chapter 121.

Lastly I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes. If you see any fell free to point them out so I can fix them. I do try and revise the old chapters. Reviews and suggestions are always welcome. I'm not sure what the next chapter will be about so any ideas will be helpful and taken into consideration. Positive remarks or helpful and constructive criticism is also loved, especially when you guys tell me _**specifically**_ what you liked or disliked because while it's nice to know that the story is loved and you want me to keep going with it and updating (those reviews are still enjoyed and I smile when I read them), knowing what you found good or bad helps me with future installments.

~May Rene


	4. Face to Face

Chapter 4- Face to Face

"_The first step towards knowledge is to know that we are ignorant."_

_~Richard Cecil_

Danny kicked his dangling legs back and forth as he sat waiting on the docks. His aura flickered a bit in agitation and the half ghost was sure that if someone were to take his blood pressure (or ectoplasm pressure) it would be through the roof.

_'What was that saying about how waiting's the worst part?' _For his sake, as well as Jack's, he sincerely hoped that waiting would be the most tooth-pulling part of this experience. _'For God's sake I've stared down Dark Pariah and looked death in the face, what the hell am I so nervous about?' _As if it would serve to answer his question, Danny examined his reflection in the relatively still waters; how his green eyes sparkled with an unearthly light, how his snowy skin had a moonlight like luminescence despite the new moon that night.

To Jack those to things would likely stand out the most, but Danny knew that if it was his mom meeting him here, with her warmer disposition towards Phantom she would see the life and mischief in his emerald orbs and the gentle warmth emitted by his dim aura. Hopefully by the end of the meeting, Jack would to.

The distinct sound of the Fenton RV's engine caused Danny to close his eyes and suck in a deep breath. He took two more when he heard the heavy metal door slam followed by the crunch of gravel under feet. It took all of Danny's self control to stay perfectly still as his Dad crossed the remaining distance and stood behind him silently for a minute before breaking the silence. "Phantom?"

Danny looked up over his right shoulder at the hulk of a man that was his father. "Uh, hi. Nice of you to come."

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

(Just over a week ago, last Friday morning)

Jack walked into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of spooky-O's while his wife finished washing the bowls Danny and Jazz had used that morning. His eyes automatically found their way to source of his internal irritation.

"The flowers are nice."

"They certainly are. They have that personal-touch feel to them and smell wonderful. Such a nice blend on the eyes and nose. I have to admit the vase is also pretty stunning, have you seen the detail on it Jack?"

No, he hadn't. Last night his attention had been mostly on the note, and the part that wasn't trying to pour over the words was simmering over the fact that a ghost he didn't like had given a hand picked bouquet of flowers to his wife. In his annoyance, confusion, and concern Jack hadn't stopped to inspect the seemingly ordinary vase. "No Mads, but it looks like a nice vase, matches the flowers well."

Maddie put the dishes in the drying rack and came over. "Oh I know. Such good taste."

Knowing that cutting to the chase was more his style Jack decided get to the point. "Maddie, I wanted to talk about who gave you the flowers and the note." He looked his wife in the eyes. "I want to discuss Phantom."

Maddie blinked. "Alright. What do you want to discuss about him?"

"Getting chummy with and keeping him company. Enough so that he's bringing you flowers and willing to offer favors and weapons testing. He's dangerous Maddie I don't want you spending hours on end with him, especially if I'm not there. And before you give me the lecture on how he's different and that he hasn't done anything to hurt anybody in a while, I would like to point out that he's still a ghost that he is more than capable of forming a new obsession that _could _drive him over the edge and to violence. I don't want you being that other obsession honey, they never end well."

Maddie sighed. "Jack, I know you mean well and I'm touched, it's a sweet sentiment, but it's alright. I've seen Phantom around and yes... I have sat with him and talked with him and I guess you can call it 'getting chummy', but that's only happened a few random times and I haven't done anything other than talk with him. I'm pretty positive he won't form an obsession over me solely as a result of that. Besides, you _know _I can take care of myself. I'm always fully armed and alert around him."

The auburn haired scientist picked one of the carnations, a white one, and gave it a smell. "I think he's seeing a change in us and taking an initiative Jack, that's why he offered to help if we ever needed it. I haven't been asking him or bringing it up and I was just as surprised as you were by the note and flowers. We're suspicious of ghosts and there motives because that's all we've ever known- there always _was _some underlying cause or meaning in the past, but I'm telling you, I am convinced that this is simply Phantom being nice." She offered her husband the pristine flower.

Jack took it and gave it a frown. "I know you can take care of yourself Maddie," he paused and gave her a small smile "and me, that's why when we're short on weapons during a fight I give you the gun. I just... I don't really know anything about Phantom other than he's a ghost and you see something in him. I trust your judgment, you know I do. But I don't like taking chances with my family just as much as I believe in your intuition. Sometimes seeing is believing and well, I don't see."

"Then maybe it's time you did." Maddie smiled putting her hand on his. "Maybe it's time you met with him and saw him being... him. Not some evil ghost or an obsessive spirit, but a sincere and genuine being that means well."

"I don't know Mads. I don't think he'd want to. Anytime he see's me he tends to run, which I don't mind but, if you want us to talk then that would be a problem."

"He patrols at night. I think I can run into him in the next few days and arrange something. How does next Saturday sound to you?"

"A little soon. I'm not sure you're even going to be able to arrange anything at all let alone something by next week, but sure, next Saturday is fine if he agrees."

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Yeah, nice of you to come as well, you must be busy with all the ghosts you hunt." Jack said awkwardly.

"It depends, some days are worse than others but today was pretty quiet." Phantom explained.

Jack stood there not sure of what to do or say and feeling somewhat uncomfortable about being near such a powerful apparition. He was sitting instead of floating and had his back to Jack which made the ghost hunter feel less threatened but still the man clad in kill-me-now orange was weary. He didn't know the ghost and had more often than nought seen only fleeting glimpses of black and white when Phantom took off. What exactly was he supposed to say to a dead teenager he had promised to destroy? What exactly was there to say to a spirit in general? 'How's life?' He had no idea what his wife talked to Phantom about but currently Jack was at a loss.

"You can sit, if you want to I mean, I don't bite." Phantom suggested sounding just as uneasy as Jack.

Mulling over what he was going to do Jack decided that he might as well. After all he was here to show some faith in his wife's intuition and give Phantom a chance. _'I have no idea how you managed to arrange this honey.' _The ghost hunter thought taking a seat next the young ghost.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

(Four days earlier, Tuesday)

Danny was flying through the sky over amity park on his nightly patrol feeling rather ticked off. So far his thermos had caught two ghosts- the box ghost and him.

The halfa hadn't been even five minutes into his nocturnal routine when Tucker had radioed over to him that the box ghost was being a problem at _The Gift Box Emporium_ again. Sighing Danny had flown over just as Tucker finished capping the thermos. "How long did that take you?"

"Maybe 17 seconds."

"Congrats Tuck, you shaved a whole 5 seconds off your record. Now you just need to shave 9 more to beat me and 12 to beat Sam."

"Hey, I'm getting there." The techno-geek had said spinning the Fenton thermos on his finger like you would a basket ball. A second later it slipped off and remembering what had happened last time Tucker made a grab for the metal container so that it wouldn't hit the ground. While he did manage to catch the thermos, his thumb he hit the button in his blind grab and a swirling blue beam of light had erupted and latched onto Danny dragging him in. "Whoops."

Luckily Tucker was able to release Danny after only a few minutes and the box ghost was the only other one in there to get release with him but Tucker's little slip had still put Danny in an agitated mood.

"It doesn't release them if you drop it anymore, that's the whole reason I gave you the upgraded thermos instead of hanging on to it or giving it to Sam!"

"I know, I know! I'm just programmed to not let it take a fall. Beside you only have to catch the box ghost, there's no need to get so mad." Danny's best friend tried to reason.

"When you know what it's like to get crammed into a Fenton thermos, even if its for five minutes, then you can tell me to chill." Danny had flown off after that in search of the annoying ghost he had captured on almost a daily basis.

When he passed by the park play ground he noticed his mom sitting on a swing and decided to say take his mind off of Tucker and say hi. "One of _those _grown ups I see." He said floating downing into the seat left of her.

"What do you mean 'One of _those _grown ups'?"

Phantom shrugged. "The kind that never out grow the playground because they're still a kid at heart."

"That's not entirely true. I don't enjoy going down the kittie slides or on the see-saws anymore. I'm too big for the monkey bars as well," she paused "but I don't suppose I'll ever out grow swings which means I'll never give up the park's playground entirely." She gave him a smirk. "What about you? Still dead and still coming over. I don't think you're about to grow up and leave it either."

"I'm technically still a kid so I can play here all I like." He retorted floating up with the swing before letting gravity pull him back down and up again like a pendulum.

"I wanted to say thank you." Maddie said as watched her son enjoy his and her long time favorite part of the playground.

"For what?" He asked in confusion as he went higher and higher with each swing.

"For the flowers and what you said in the note." She replied quietly and genuinely.

Understanding hit him in a heart beat and he gave a nonchalant shrug. "I just picked the flowers, it's not like I planted or raised them, and testing something isn't a big deal. You're still going to be the one to fine tune it once you see what stage it's at."

"It's the thought that counts... Could you come down for a moment? I have something for you."

Phantom raised an eyebrow and stopped to the swings momentum before floating it down slowly. "You got me a gift?" He asked in disbelief.

"You could call it that, or you could call it taking you up on your offer. Close your eyes." Phantom shot her a look that said 'Yeah right' to which Maddie rolled her eyes. "I could have shot you while you were flying over the park oblivious to me."

Point taken Phantom closed his eyes and Maddie reached into a little utility box that was clipped to her thigh. Silently she pulled out a black braided cord with a little glowing green object hanging from it by a clasp and put it over Phantom's head so that it hung from his neck. When she pulled her hands away Phantom opened his eyes and looked down at the object hanging from the necklace. He held it up and stared at it as he realized just what it was.

"It's one of the experiments I've been working on, it's called a core amplification capsule... I seem to recall you saying that I don't always show up, and when I do, I'm commonly late. This is for one of these times. It'll give you a quick burst of energy but I'm not sure how effective it will be since it's never been tested. Also it's not meant to get you back at 100 percent, it's more of a you're running on empty and need a last ditch effort to take the bad guy down or to escape and recover."

"Thanks. I... I really don't know what to say. One question though," Phantom gave her a sheepish look "how do I use it?"

Maddie couldn't help it, she laughed. A good belly laugh to, not just one of those you hear a good joke and chuckle a bit types. When she composed herself she motioned Phantom to come over to her. He got off his swing seat and stood in front of his mother looking at her expectantly. She reached for the capsule and, unscrewing the silver top that was attached to the clip, held up the small glass container for him to see.

"That's why it's called a capsule."

"Ah."

She twisted the capsule back into the cap and let it fall against his jump suit as she let go of it. "After you use it I'd like the container back, they're specially made... and I'd like a verbal report of how it worked."

"Sounds fair to me." Phantom agreed.

"One more thing. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind meeting my husband."

"Like set time and place kinda meeting?" She nodded. "How come?"

Maddie sat silent for a few moments searching for the right words. "It would make everyone's life easier if all the ghost hunters of this town could be on the same page and work with each other instead of getting in the others way. I know he's not exactly a supporter of yours but he saw your note and asked me about you. Sometimes seeing is believing and well, he wants to believe." She broke off to give Phantom a minute to stew it over.

"I'm not sure I can get him to give up his weapons but, if you're not doing anything threatening I can give you an almost guarantee that he won't pull them. You said if I ever needed a favor, well Jack doesn't really want me associating with you until he's talked to you. He wants to see for himself that you're different. Please give him that chance." She added in case that made any difference.

Phantom frowned at the ground and kicked his boot at the bare dirt that had long been stripped of it's grass by all the people the went on and off the swings. Sighing he looked up at her. "Did you have a day in mind?"

Maddie gave Phantom a winning smile. "How's this Saturday? Say 8 O'clock at the docks?"

"Dark and secluded. I'm not sure how good of a mood setting that'll be for either one of us." Phantom replied dryly.

"It's beautiful over there, especially on either a full moon with the light reflecting off the surface or when it's a new moon and the water stills. I think calm and tranquil are just what the doctor ordered."

Phantom shot her a doubtful look. "This Saturday 8 O'clock at the docks. Got it." He flew off to find the box ghost so that he could be back home in time for Flash.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"I'm gonna come right out and say it. I don't trust you." Phantom's heart fell. "I've only seen ghosts causing trouble and that includes you. The only times I've seen you when you haven't runaway were when you shot at me and Maddie, robbed those banks, attacked the mayor, chased after my son, attacked the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle during that family outing and started destroying the Christmas presents last year."

"That wasn't me! Or at least it's not what it seemed like. I was being mind controlled to rob those store, I shot at you two because I thought you were being overshadowed, the mayor who was in fact overshadowed attacked and framed me, those presents were haunted, and-" 

"I don't care. I'm sure some of those excuses are valid. I'm sure some of them also have holes and aren't completely true. Whatever the case may be I promised Maddie I'd over look them and give you a second chance, a fresh start if you will since we were giving you reason to shot at us and and our children and RV."

Phantom looked at his dad with hope in his eyes, hope that this conversation would be the beginning of a journey that would lead him towards being able to tell his parents the truth one day. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet. If you go after my family, you won't be thanking me when I lock you up as an experiment for the rest of your after life." Jack growled.

"I promise not to abuse this little trust you've given me and just so you know, I've helped you before. When you were trapped by that ghost Plasmius and your house was going to explode I freed you or that time all the adults were brainwashed and I got everyone safely off the ship. I kinda borrowed your exo-suit when I battled Pariah Dark and I'll grant you that I didn't ask permission to use it, but I got the town out of the ghost zone and beat one of the toughest ghost around with no fatalities to your town. I know to you I've done some sketchy things, but there are acts of justice and mercy that I've also done that you've seen in fleeting and that other people have seen."

"Yeah I get it, you're an exception to the rules, that's why I told Maddie I'd put some faith in her intuition about you being different."

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm different because I'm not bad? Or at least not evil and hell bent on death and destruction?"

"Well yeah. That's what all the other ghosts want. You battle them you know they're up to no good." Jack pointed out.

Phantom snorted. "You only see the bad ones that's why they all seem so awful. Typical, but understandable. Listen Jack, I'm not an exception when it comes to my disposition. They are other ghosts who are just as friendly, some of them more so. It's just that those ghosts stay away from you because they don't want to get into a fight. Most of them actually stay in the ghost zone so that they can't cause a problem over here, but sometimes they to come over to this world and just explore. They don't go around committing crimes and the only trouble they make is when someone freaks out seeing them. The majority of ghosts just want to be left alone. It's only a small percent that fall into the good and bad categories."

"I'm assuming you're friends with some of these 'good' ghosts?" He asked.

Phantom nodded. "Yeah. Ghost are like people. You'll meet a few who are ill-natured and bent on using other people as a means to achieve there goals, another few who are true heroes and go out of there way to always do they right thing, but most people you meet are neutral. They don't have a hero complex and aren't out to get anyone. I know several good and neutrals I'd be willing to introduce you to, provided you don't meet them with guns blazing." Phantom offered.

"That sounds like it would be a good experience, but I'd want to wait. Staring to trust one ghost is enough for me right now, but if you don't do anything to kill it, then maybe I'd be trusting enough for you to bring a ghost or two over."

"Believe me, it would take some time to convince them anyways."

"By the way, I read that note too, the one you wrote to my wife with those hand picked flowers."

Phantom suddenly had a coughing fit and Jack looked at him unsure of what to do. _'He can't _honestly _believe I was hitting on mom. Eww that is so Vlad.' _He though. "What about the note?" Phantom finally managed to get out.

"You said you'd be willing to help if she needed help. Well she needs something for her main project, something from a ghost. I haven't pried since it's her pride and joy, but..."

"You want me to give her what she needs." He surmised. "Just saying, I'd be more willing if she was the one to ask. Did you ever consider that she didn't ask for a reason?"

Jack looked at him in thought. "I'm not pushing you to do anything and I don't know what Maddie needs or what she's going to do, I'm just throwing what I do have out there."

For the next several minutes silence passed between the two as they watched the limp waves lethargically lap at the wooden poles supporting the dock. The rhythmic sound was enough to dispel some of both parties previous discomfort. "So how'd you die?" Jack finally asked.

"Uh, that's a bit personal but... ...I was electrocuted. Hurt worse than anything I'd ever felt. Couldn't describe it to you even if I wanted other then I'm positive that if heaven and hell do exist, I have an idea of what damned souls go through on a regular basis... So what about you? How did you get into ghosts? It's not a common or well known field and honestly ecto activity has only picked up in these past few years. Before this there couldn't have been much work opportunity."

"I don't feel much like getting into that either, but long story short, I wanted to get into a different field. One that didn't have too much ground work already laid because I wanted to make an impression. You may have noticed I'm a pretty big man. Well, people were always telling me what I couldn't do and I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to do something that others hadn't yet managed to do and the ghost field was a developing area that sparked my interest." He paused as something hit him. "How did _you_ get into ghost hunting? It's a bit unusual seeing something fighting there own kind."

Phantom snorted. "Please. People are constantly fighting and going to war with each other over the littlest things, they're just as violent. I don't know how I got into it. It was something I was just thrust into but I continued with it because I don't like ghosts picking on humans." He gave Jack a pointed look. "I also don't approve of _people_ picking on _ghost _just because they can either."

The scientist had nothing to say to that and remained silent.

Neither knowing what to talk about, they instead opted to spend their time getting used to being near one another without ecto energy being fired.

Minutes ticked by like sands of an hour glass. At some point, Jack didn't know when and Phantom likely didn't know either, their silence had become comfortable as they got more used to sitting next to each other.

"I'm not exactly sure what to talk about and I have some other business I have to take care of so maybe we should both get going? Meeting you was... interesting. Mads is right, you're different but it's more of a good different. You know where we live and Maddie seems pretty apt at finding you so I'll see you around. Maybe we can do this again sometime."

"Yeah. I think I might like that. Well take care, tell Maddie I said hi. " Phantom said taking to the sky.

xXxXxXxXxXx

(Home- FentonWorks, Kitchen)

"There you are Danny. I was looking all over the house for you." Jazz said entering the kitchen.

"Something you wanted?"

"Not in particular. I was just seeing what you were up to. I had thought about seeing a movie tonight and was wondering if you'd like to come. I know I'm not Sam or Tucker but we are siblings." She walked over to Danny. "I'm surprised this thing isn't melting." Jazz commented picking the vase up.

He shrugged. "Ghost ice, it doesn't melt so easily. It would take either ghost fire or an extreme heat wave to melt it. Anyway it depends what movie you were going to see. I'm not sitting through to any chick flicks."

The elder Fenton snorted and set the frozen vase down. "Since when do _I _watch those movies?"

"Love Letters to Juliet, The Devil wears Prada, John Tucker Must Die. Do I need to list anymore?"

Jazz narrowed her eyes. "I watched those movies so I could psychoanalyze the characters, not because I thought they were any good." She said annoyed. "You're safe from any of those kind of movies and as long as were on what's not getting watched, I'm not watching any horror movies or tragedies. Something happy would be good."

"Comedy it is. The three stooges still playing?" Danny asked.

"Last I heard yeah and I'd say that sounds like a perfect match for us."

Danny smirked. "I couldn't agree with you more Moe."

**A/N: **Well Phantom and Jack have had their first realencounter and they're both alive and in one piece. What more could either one ask for? I really wasn't sure how I wanted to organize this other than I knew that it was going to open with Danny and Jack first meeting and then the flash backs would show how they got there. It turned out fine so I'm happy. Also couldn't help but squeeze that little Jazz and Danny bit at the end because well, Jazz really cares about Danny and as much as he complains about her, Danny cares for Jazz as well. Most siblings get on each others nerves from time to time but in the end they're family. I always pictured the two becoming a bit closer after Jazz learned the secret because she was going to be there for her baby brother whether he wanted it or not.

I have an early dismissal today and my group (or rather one person in it) didn't do there part because they figured we wouldn't be going since we were supposed to present last... but since every other group had that idea of 'I don't have to go' because they thought we wouldn't have class at ALL my group will likely have to present as is. *sigh* AP and Honors kids are truly the laziest bunch, myself included. Good luck to people who get snowed in or face any other snow related problems in the coming days. Drive and walk safely people. My sympathies to all like me who will be made to shovel snow for hours on end, especially those currently sick or getting over being sick, I fall in the latter category.

Reviews and comments are always welcomed and loved. Ideas, suggestions, or things you want added, will be very much welcomed as well. If you see any spelling/grammar mistakes let me know. PM me any questions you have about the story or anything else.

~Many thanks to all the readers, May Rene


	5. The First Step

Chapter 5- The First Step  
(A giant Leap for Phantom and Fenton)

"_When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand."_

_~Henri Nouwen_

"I'm here in one piece with no gaping holes or bloody gashes, doesn't that answer the question?"

"No. For all we know your Dad started firing and just didn't hit you, I mean no offense but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and you're not exactly an easy target."

"Sam's right, now if this was a peace talk with Vlad that'd be saying something, but with your Dad it doesn't mean much."

"Well there's not much to say. It went well, we talked a little but neither one of us knew what to talk about so we mostly just sat there getting used to not shooting. Or in my case not flying away as fast as I can."

Sam shrugged and popped a cookie into her mouth. "Sometimes there's nothing _to _say. Checkmate."

"Why are you teaching me chess again?"

"Strategy. It'll help you when you fight. If you want I could drag Tucker and another board over. Maybe two games will be enough of a distraction so you can get more than three of my pieces."

Tucker looked up from the game he was playing on his PDA. "Danny's a lost cause Sam. Quit while you're behind."

The goth rolled her eyes as she reset the board. "So what little conversation occurred was about…?"

"Uh… we talked about me not being the only good ghost and have we got into the whole ghost fighting business."

"What did you say?" Tucker asked bringing a second black and white board and himself over.

"I told him I was thrust into it and just never tried getting out."

Sam nodded. "True but safe response. And what did your Dad say?"

"That he wanted to make a breakthrough in something to prove people wrong." Danny replied.

"Sounds like Sam and her activism. OW! Why'd you hit me?"

"What?" She asked giving Tucker an innocent look.

"You messed with the wrong chess player. Danny's like the box ghost compared to me."

"Hey!"

Sam shifted her body so that she was facing Tucker. "Bring it on, I was getting sick of dragging out those painful massacres with Danny. White goes first, your move."

Danny looked between the two and sighed. _'They're more aggressive towards each other sometimes then my parents are with ghosts.'_

xXxXxXxXxXx (FentonWorks living room)

"Achoo!"

"Bless you dear. So how'd it go?"

"I have to admit it was nice not shooting at each other. You were right, Phantom seems like an alright guy, er ghost. We talked a bit and sat there." Jack moved a red piece to the left. " He's really different from the rest, almost seem alive."

"Well since he's still bound here in a sense he is." Maddie replied jumping one of Jack red pieces and taking it. "He probably has more 'life' then the others ghosts because he's young. I mean his spirit is that of a teenager and hasn't been around more than two years."

"Yeah, he died young…" Jack paused. "Electrocuted. That's how Phantom said he died."

"You asked?" Maddie said raising an eyebrow. "Not exactly something you talk to a ghost about."

"It just came out. You seem to be on relatively good terms, you never asked?"

"That's one of the most, if not _the_ most, touch of areas to bring up. Ghosts don't usually react well to being reminded that they're dead."

Jack moved a red piece to the left again but diagonally this time and captured a kinged piece.. "Well luckily Phantom's not most. He almost feels familiar to, like I knew him before he died…" Jack trail off trying to place where he might have seen the ghost when he was alive. "Anyway he was telling me that there are more like him, more friendlies. He suggested introducing us to them sometime. What do you think?"

"If Phantom trusts them I'm willing to put some trust in them as well. I don't see the harm in just meeting them and this would be a good chance to observe more ghosts in a noncombatant setting. Phantom seems to be an outlier but if he's right, this definitely would change some of our views and theories." She jumped Jacks last two pieces. "Up for connect four?"

"How about an eating contest instead."

xXxXxXxXxXx (Next day- Monday after school)

"So how would I solve this when x is raised to a power of 3/2?"

"As hard as they look, fractional exponents aren't too different from the whole ones. When you have a fraction as the exponent the numerator is what the variable is raised to and the denominator is what power the root is. So for this problem four is raised to the power of three, 64, and then square rooted which gives you 8." Mr. Lancer paused. "You could also look at it as square root of four, 2, and then 2 cubed which will still gives you 8. Sometimes that approach is easier since you work with smaller numbers." He explained. "Do think you can do the next one by yourself or do you want to go over one more?" Mr. Lancer asked.

"I'll try it first."

Mr. Lancer gave Danny an approving nod as he watched his improving student diligently trying to solve the math problem in front of him.

After a little over a week of Mr. Lancer's forcing/coercing him to come after school, Danny now found himself coming out of habit. He usually stayed for twenty to thirty minutes depending on the day's work load though there were times he left earlier or later.

Like the loyal friends they were Sam and Tucker for the most part stayed after with Danny on a daily basis as well. Today, however, the two had taken Danny's advice and left right after the bell rung to go wait on line for tickets to the new movie Serpents Trinity.

"You know, this isn't so bad when you have someone explaining it one on one. I think you could have been a good math teacher Mr. Lancer what made you to decide to go into English?"

Mr. Lancer looked at Danny before walking to his desk and grabbing a photograph. He handed the metal frame to the confused raven haired teen.

'_I wonder when this was taken.' _Danny thought looking at the slightly yellowed black and white picture. The photo was of a young woman who looked to be in her late twenties with long curly hair Danny assumed was either red or dirty blond. She wore a cheerful tie-dye dress and a butterfly necklace that must have shined like a diamond if all the glares it gave off were any indication. Her eyes were a color he had never seen. They couldn't be blue, green, or violet and despite being in a colorless photo he knew they weren't brown. They looked like a slightly lighter version of the woman's hair color. Pushing the question out of his mind Danny focused on her smile. It was one of the warmest and most sincere he had ever seen.

"Who is she?" Danny finally asked handing the photo back.

"Faith Kyna. She was my English teacher senior year of high school. You hear about these teachers that change a student's life with something they say or do, well she was one of those teachers with me. My mom died in a car accident early that year and my father didn't handle it well; he turned to drinking. I had been a pretty good student up until that point but senior year it all started to fall apart." He didn't stop talking as he rolled over his desk chair and sat down. "As much as I tried to focus I just couldn't. My mother's death, my father drinking himself under the table most nights, working to pay off some of the bills because his liquor money cut into the budget.

"At that point school work seemed to be the least of my worries and as a result my grades plummeted, they were worse than yours Mr. Fenton." Danny looked a bit offended at the remark but didn't interrupt. "Miss Faith pulled me aside one day and told me to meet her after school. She didn't force me to explain what was going on, but she said she was going to make sure I did my work."

"How?"

"She was a determined woman. I believe that if it was for her students there's nothing she wouldn't have done. Miss Faith followed me to my job for a whole week when I skipped and stayed there following me around and reading Hamlet to me until I went home. She even invited herself over for dinner once or twice to drive her point home. After that I got it, she wasn't about to give up on me and she wasn't going to let me give up on myself or my school work either."

"So what happened?"

"I asked my manager for a slightly later shift so I could stay after school. I stayed because Faith skipped a day's lesson plan and instead gave an inspiring presentation about the importance of school. She explained that a solid education and degree was necessary to succeed. It didn't guarantee a job or a good life, but not having one almost did guaranteed never having either. Faith said that if anyone wanted to waste their life then that was their decision, but no one was about to do that on her watch, not if she could help it. She really got through to me and I realized then that that was what I wanted to do to."

"You mean helping people, making an impact? But there are so many other fields you could have gone into. Jobs like counselors or psychiatrists they help people get through problems. Firefighter and polices risk their lives for complete strangers they might never know. Doctors go around curing and healing, they can save hundreds. A lot of times those guys are the real heroes."

Mr. Lancer nodded. "Yes I consider them heroes, but I believe that teenagers need the most help because they're going through the most difficult phase in their life. It's a time where you're expected to act like an adult, yet you're treated like a child. I felt teaching would give me the best chance to help some of the more troubled teens I ran into. All doctors, firefighters, police… everyone is a student at one point and some of those who become great might only do so because of the right mentor."

Danny's eyes widened. "That's me isn't it? I was one of those kids you picked up on your needs-help-radar." It was more of a statement than a question and Mr. Lancer laughed.

"You're correct. I saw potential in you Danny; those first few weeks you produced good work and participated with active interest. Then there was the accident at home and when you finally came back you weren't the same. Half the time you were asleep and the other half when you weren't you couldn't focus. Any work you gave me was barely done and the idea was usually misconstrued and stretched thin. While I was glad it wasn't plagiarized, there were times I almost wished it was so you would have read the correct answers instead of beating made up ones into your head."

"I've gotten better though. I mean I almost never take naps in your class and when I do it's not on purpose. My homework record has also improved, I've made quite an effort towards getting it done. As for focus well, no offense but Shakespeare isn't the most riveting topic for me and I'm not a morning person, but I still try." Danny pointed out.

"There has been major improvement on your part and seeing it was a relief. I was honestly worried, that's why this year I made it a point to try Faith's method on you. It worked for me and I had a feeling it might have the magic touch for you."

Danny was about to reply when a blue mist escaped his mouth. _'Damn. Today was going so well to.'_

"BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST!" "Will you be my friend?"

'_The two biggest losers in the ghost zone? Well there's a nomination for biggest joke of a team for the year.'_

"Oedipus the King! We need to get out of here now Mr. Fenton!" Mr. Lancer cried grabbing Danny's arm and dragging him out the door. "The auditorium should be safe once the ghost shield is activated. I want you to head there while I run to the office and call for help. The generator for the shield is right in front of the stage. I assume you can turn it on since you're familiar with this kind technology. "

"Probably, but when did the auditorium get a ghost shield?"

"This past Saturday, your Dad also installed one in the cafeteria and gym in case there were ever any ghost emergencies." _'So that's the business he had to take care of.' _Danny thought remembering his Dad's excuse to leave the docks. "Just stay there until I finish calling for help." Mr. Lancer ordered turning a corner to head for the main office.

As soon as Lancer was out of sight Danny transformed and started running in the opposite direction. "Looking for me?" He asked spotting the two ghosts. "Catch me if you can!"

Danny took off for the nearest exit hoping to minimize any damage to the school by taking the fight outside. He stopped several yards into the football field when the box ghost emerged from the school. "Prepare to feel my doom!" He yelled as several boxes sitting on the bleacher stared to fly at Danny.

"Be my friend! Please! I'm so lonely!" Klemper yelled flying into the open field. "We can have lots of fun together, like going sledding or building snowmen!" He added hurling bowling ball sized snowballs at Danny.

"Sorry Boxy I don't think I'll be feeling your 'doom' anytime soon and Klemper, you don't have snowball fights in late May." Danny replied dodging the boxes and snow before shooting ice beams at the two. The box ghost took the hit and fell like a stone from the air while Klemper didn't so much as flinch.

"Nothing can freeze me, my heart is already ice. And you'll pay for hurting my only friend!" He shot several large ice spikes at Danny who created a shield and simply watched as the spikes struck the translucent obstruction and crashed to the ground in pieces. "Well if Lancer asks I can honestly say I used _a_ ghost shield." Danny muttered to himself dropping the shield and firing a ghost ray that Klemper barely managed to avoid.

"I only want to be friends. Why won't you be my friend!" He cried flying down to the box ghost.

"Because you keep causing trouble. I can't have people thinking that I do that to. Do you have any idea how much work it's taken for this town to start accepting me?"

Klemper put his hands on the ice encasing the box ghost. "That's shallow! I wouldn't care if the other ghosts labeled me a traitor for hanging out with you! Why would you care what people think if we started hanging out?" The ice surrounding the ghostly pest reverted back to water.

"Thank you." The box ghost said sincerely. "Now Phantom, prepare to feel my WRATH!"

"And my loneliness!" Boxes of ice materialized out of thin air that the box ghost started hurling at the halfa while Klemper fired an ice beam from his eyes. Danny hardened a beam of energy into a small handmade shield to try and deflect the boxes while he countered Klemper's ice vision with his own.

Danny was winning the battle of the ice when a particularly fast box crashed into his shield sending him hurtling backwards. Right into the schools electrical lines.

10,000 volts surged through Danny's body superheating his ectoplasm and freezing the halfa in midair until the transformer blew from the ecto energy leaking down the lines from Danny's body. As the metal box exploded, the wires, and consequently Danny, fell to the ground. Spike of broken ice and shard of shrapnel sank into his flesh upon impact letting ectoplasm flow free. A primal scream tore itself from Danny's mouth as the pain caught up with his brain and overloaded his mind.

"We did that." The Box Ghost stated numbly. "We took down the halfa."

"Box Ghost, I just wanted to be friends. I didn't want to cripple him. What are we going to do?"

The Box Ghost looked at Klemper. "We should flea lest we face the wrath of the gothic one or any others."

"But we should help him." Klemper insisted.

"What can we do? Nothing. If we stick around we'll be in trouble. It's not just the humans; any of the far frozen will have our heads for this, assuming Skulker doesn't take them first as compensation for stealing his prey and anything Plasmius will do will make beheading seem pleasant in comparison. We should go. Now."

"But-"

"STAY IF YOU WANT TO!" He screamed. " But I'm leaving."

Klemper watched as his temporary partner sped off. When the Box host was out of sight he stared down at the smoke rising from Danny's twitching form. "I never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry."

xXxXxXxXxXx

It hurt. Every part of his body that he could feel felt like it was on fire and being touched by the sun's corona. A million freshly sharpened knives stabbed at his nerve endings and his skull threatened to burst from the pressure. The pain wasn't as bad as the portal accident but then again Danny couldn't even remember the sheer amount of pain from back, it had been inconceivable.

Trying to reign in control of his limbs Danny attempted to sit up which resulted in his arms giving out and him falling back to the ground. _'I feel like I'm gonna melt.' _The thought greatly worried him because he knew that in his ghost form potentially he could. Danielle had a very similar structure and she had melted into nothing; it was only the ecto-dejecto that had saved her.

'_I need to get home. Not sure I make it there right now but I _need _to, Mom can help me.'_

As Danny lay there sucking in deep breaths to dull the pain and trying to stop shaking a thought struck him.

'_Good thing glass is an insulator.' _He thought reaching for the necklace that had miraculously survived. With trembling fingers Danny unscrewed the lid and carefully forced his shaking fingers to bring the capsule to his mouth. He downed to small amount of liquid with a grimace. _'God this stuff is worse than Tucker's body spray. I wonder how long it takes to kick in.' _His question got an immediate response as Danny felt some of his strength return. _'Right… ectoplasm diffuses quickly.'_ With the small energy boost Danny managed to bring his seizing limbs somewhat under control.

Gently he got to his feet and after the sudden light headedness faded a bit he took a hesitant step forward half expecting to fall. Still standing he took another and another until he was walking.The squelching of his steps made him look down. _'This bleeding's bad, I either need to get home soon or slow it down.' _He watched for a moment as glowing green poured down chest, stomach and sides. _'It'll be close, but I might have enough juice to fly home.' _Wrapping his hands and arms around himself to stem some of the bleeding Danny shakily took to the air.

Blood loss started to catch up not even two minutes later. The world was spinning and his head was feeling lighter than a feather but he kept going. With each block Danny got closer to home but also to the ground. He finally dropped from the sky when he was mostly down his street with only two houses to go. Groaning he managed to climb to his feet and walk the rest of the way. When he reached the front door he sagged against it trying in vain to catch his breath and regain his bearings while he took an inventor of himself.

One of his legs was numb and the other felt like it had a sprained ankle. His torso felt like well-done ground beef and each breath was like a stake being driven through his chest. He wished he could kick the unnecessary habit that his ghost half refused to let go of. Multiple ribs had to be bruised and at least one was broken and piercing a lung. It was a good thing there was no living tissue in of need a functioning repertory system, but when he reverted that would be a bit of a problem. Lucky for him his human side didn't need as much air as the average person.

His right arm was mostly in tact thankfully but his left could barely be bent around his waist. It was likely fractured in at least two places based on the stabbing flares of pain by his wrist and several inches above the elbow. Standing, let alone walking, was even worse than breathing. Even without his bum leg Danny could barely see past the black spots that dominated his view of the spinning world. His body's supply of ectoplasm was running dangerously low and Danny was knew he wasn't about to last too much longer without some kind of help._ 'I made. Don't know how, but I made it.' _

Feeling ever so slightly better Danny focused the last of his energy and phased through the door. A pained 'oof' escaped his lips as his body thudded to the living room floor staining the periwinkle carpet with his ghost half's green blood. _'I need to get to the lab; they're probably down there… just- just a little bit further.'_

No matter how hard he struggled through, Danny didn't have the energy to get up, his core was drained. Giving up on the idea of walking, Danny scrounged up the will power to force his body to crawl. After what seemed like an eternity but was only a minutes the halfa reached the steps leading to the lab.

"Ma-" his voice gave out. "Maddie!" He tried again. Danny's voice was hoarse and refuse to reach the needed octive but he gave another shout, desperate. "Maddie! Help!"

"Who's up there!" She demanded not recognizing the voice immediately.

"It's me. Phantom!" He yelled trying to right himself to a sitting position. The attempt failed miserably and instead Danny went tumbling down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom, the wind getting knock from him. "There goes another rib or two." He gasped.

"My God, Phantom what happened, are you alright!?" Maddie cried as she and Jack rushed over.

"Not gonna lie…" he laughed spitting up ectoplasm. "I've been better." The laughing turned to harsh coughing and soon the pain sent Danny curling in on himself. "God I can't breathe." He chocked out trying to suck in oxygen.

"You're a ghost you don't need to breathe." Jack stated in disbelief.

"Well sorry," Danny wheezed, "but this one _thinks_ he does."

"What happened?" She repeated grabbing Danny by the arm pits. Jack followed her lead and grabbed his legs and the two moved him to a clear examination table.

"Nothing much… I was thrown into some power lines… and then landed on a nice, sharp pile of ice." He pause a moment as a thought struck him. "Your capsules- you wanted a report… They work, I had to use mine to make it here." While Danny was getting out his story Maddie ran to an emergency medical cabinet near the portal and lugged over a large steel box.

"You made it so don't worry, we'll fix you right up." She said pulling a bottle and syringe out.

"What is that stuff?" Danny asked eyeing the filling syringe.

"Just something to knock you out. You'll be more comfortable that way."

Danny got a look of panic in his eyes. "No! No I can't be knocked out. I might, I could… It-It's better if I'm awake."

"Maddie I'm not sure Benzine's gonna work on him anyway. We don't how it'll react to his ectoplasm." Jack pointed out.

"It's going to work… and I'm not giving you a choice." She added giving Danny a pointed look and testing the needle.

Danny tried valiantly to pull away but he could barely move a muscle. He screwed his eyes shut when he felt a pinch in his skin. _'They're gonna freak, they're gonna freak, they're gonna freak__, __they're gonna freak__, __they're gonna freak, they're… gonna… frea…k.' _His head rolled to the side as he passed out.

Jack stared at the unconscious ghost. "What are you planning to do? He's a ghost Maddie, I don't think human first aid is going to cut it. Hell I'm surprised the Benzine worked. Maybe letting him fade out would be better; put him out of his misery."

"No." She stated firmly. "The bleeding's only slowed slightly so we still need to stitch up the cuts or he'll bleed out. It's probably best to take off his suit and see if there are any other outstanding injuries that need treating as well. Once he's patched up Phantom'll need a big shot of the supercharged ectoplasm since a transfusion won't be possible." Maddie paused and watched Danny's chest. It rose and fell in a fairly steady rhythm but he appeared to be wheezing and having trouble getting the air he needed. "I'll grab the portable oxygen tank since he's having trouble breathing and I think it's a good idea to hook him up to the ECG and EEG. While I'm getting those and setting him up I want you to start stitching."

"For God's sake Maddie he's a _ghost!_"

Her eyes narrowed. "So what, you're quitting? You want to just let him fade Jack?"

"No! But air, stitches…" He seemed to deflate. "Honey how do you this is going to work? You seem so sure of yourself, like you're a hospital nurse who's done this a dozen times. I brought up that point for a reason; he _is _a ghost. I'm not saying it to discriminate," he said raising his hands in a calming gesture, "but it should change any approach we take. I mean air? I don't know why he's still trying to breathe, especially since he's out, but he doesn't need oxygen. You know that Maddie, that's a 101 basic. And thread isn't going to work either. Even if Phantom is solid enough to use it on, he's gonna phase through any standard stuff. We'd need something phase resistant. I don't think we should even be worrying about the gashes though, ghosts heal fast. His ectoplasm should just close the wounds over. I'll agree with the ECG and EEG because his electrical output is important to monitor and it's an interesting data opportunity, but other than that I think just giving him a shot of your charged plasm will fix him up right up."

Jack stopped a moment looking Maddie in the eyes, willing her to understand his point. "I get that you want to help him, I do and I'll help, but you can't go treating him like a human. Most likely the treatments wouldn't have an effect but potentially there could be an adverse reaction and his condition would worsen."

That made Maddie pause. Danny was human. She was treating him how she would any other human (with the exception of the ecto shot of course), but Phantom, and that's who Danny was right now, was a ghost. She assumed there was cross over, after all even from her distance she could see the red in his ectoplasm and Phantom had mentioned feeling ribs break. What Maddie didn't know, couldn't know- not without extensive testing anyway- was how far the crossing went. Phantom might not have needed the air but tried to get it simply as a result of reflex. He still breathed as Danny and it was likely the mindset carried over to Phantom.

As far as basics went, she was pretty sure Phantom was no different in most regards. If that was the case he probably didn't need the oxygen, after all there was no living tissue to utilize it. Maddie needed to think carefully about what to do because Jack was right. She wasn't treating Fenton, she was treating Phantom and that made a difference.

"You're right. He should be fine without the oxygen tank, but his wounds _aren't_ healing Jack, that's why he needs the stitches. I think the jolt knocked his frequency out of alignment. His electromagnetic field isn't where it's supposed to be and that's keeping him from functioning normally." _'It would also explain why he hasn't reverted back. His human aura must need to line up almost if not perfectly with his ghost aura for the change to take place.' _"We can use the Fenton Fisher line instead of thread. Can you start that while I get the monitors?"

Jack walked to a messy pile of scrapes and devices by some shelves near the table and rummaged through the clutter until he produced a slightly glowing ball of plastic fishing line. "On it Mads."

Maddie nodded to him before walking to the giant metal cabinet on the right side of the lab by her person work desk. She opened the squeaking doors and scanned the second to last shelf on the bottom for the two small electronics. Spotting them on the end she grabbed the little metal devices and a box of electrodes sitting next to them. She left the cabinet open in case she needed anything else than went back to Phantom.

After she set the ECG and EEG down Maddie bent over and inspected the front of Phantom's suit. _'There should be a zipper here. I'm sure this is a Fenton hazmat suit… aha!' _Grabbing the little metal clip hidden in the spandex Maddie gently unzipped it. What she saw made her frown. Scars. Dozens of old and new looking scars covered Phantom's body like a canvas. _'But his healing…' _There where only maybe two or three nasty looking ones but Maddie still didn't like seeing her son's body litter with even small injuries. With the kind of gentle touch only a mother could have she removed Phantom's arms from the suit and lifted his upper torso so that when she laid him down the hazmat suit was under him.

With the fabric out of the way Jack started feeding the needle through Phantom's skin. With hurried but careful stitches he quickly set to sewing his damaged son up.

While Jack focused on the gashes Maddie took four electrodes out and hooked them up to the EEG before peeling off the plastic covers from the suction part and sticking two of them to the sides of his head and two to his forehead. When they were secure she flipped a switch producing a low whine. Watching the numbers and sin waves like a hawk she blindly grabbed another four cords and by feel connected them to the ECG. As the vital fluctuations slowed to a stable crawl she stuck the four additional suction pads to Phantom's upper torso and chest area then pressed a little red button on the second machine.

. . . . . . .

"Well he's sewed up tighter than the lips of a secret keeper. How are those number looking Maddie?"

Maddie set her needle down and wiped the ectoplasm dripping from her hands on the thighs of her suit as she turned her head to read the home made devices again. "The brains waves are on par with what you'd expect to find of someone in a deep state of sleep though they're at the low end. The waves are cycling between .8 and .9 Hz. As for the ECG… well it's usually used to monitor pulse so I'm not what exactly sure what it's recording. If I had to take a guess I'd say it was picking up his core. I didn't know they 'pulsed' but I have no other explanation. Whatever it's picking up though isn't doing well; the reading's been getting steadily weaker."

"We can look into that in a few minutes. I think you should shoot him up with that ectoplasm you were working on a few days ago. He looks like he really needs it."

Maddie sighed. "It's not quite ready but I guess it'll have to do." The scientist looked at Phantom's paler than usually face and from her peripheral view noted that his chest was barely rising. Know it would have to do Maddie marched back over to her work desk and grabbed a slightly glowing stainless steel cylinder sitting quietly in the middle. "This really needs to sit for another week and a half." She muttered to herself.

Setting the container down on the table Phantom was occupying Maddie unscrewed the metal lid and pulled out a large glass tube sitting in the container's core. "I guess an IV bag would be the best way to get this into his system." She speculated looking at Jack who nodded and walked to the metal cabinet by the portal Maddie had initially gone to. He returned with an IV stand in one hand and an empty IV bag and tubing in the other. Jack dropped the plastic tubing to the table after setting the IV stand down then slit the bag's top with a clean scalped. He peeled the plastic open and held it up for Maddie as she finished removing the air tight lid from the see through tube. It came off with a hiss similar to that of opening spoiled juice.

Keeping the glass steady Maddie poured the not-as-ready-as-she-would-have-like liquid into the bag. When the tube was empty she placed it back into the cylinder as Jack connected the tubing to the bag. Satisfied that it was secure he stabbed the thick needle at the tubing's end into Phantom's wrist then twisted the valve open as he fastened the bag to the stand. The two watched silently as radioactive green flowed from the hanging bag down the thin tube into Phantom.

"Think he'll be alright?" Jack asked after minute.

Maddie saw Phantom's aura brighten ever so slightly and she nodded. "Yeah. He'll pull through, he's always been a tough kid."

A/N: I would just like to say that it did not take me 11 months to update. I have a beloved Naruto time travel fic, 'A Wrinkle in Time', that was finally updated in December after 11 months and some encouraging PMs to the author (That joy is what made ch 3 so long).Though I apologize for getting this out later (much later) than I had originally anticipated, I point out that it could have been worse. Veranderung wasn't updated for two _years_. I think I cried when the update alert went out. That said I hope this didn't disappoint those anxiously waiting for its release. I have an alternate ending where Danny's dies without even making it home that I wrote after my sister said "I'm getting married in four months guys! And next summer me and Allen are moving to Florida! How great is that?" I'm very close to my sister and affording plane or train fair won't be possible more than once a year so that kinda depressed me even though I am happy for her. Danny took the brunt of that depression in the alternate version and kinda sorta exploded. Literally.

Side Notes:

1- The movie Sam and Tucker ditch Danny to go get ticket for, Serpents Trinity, is the story that will likely never get published because I will probably never get around to finishing. Its story and characters, I'm proud to say, are all original and I have snippets of the story written out as well as lengthy character bio's and some drawings of what my OCs look like.

2- Lancer to me seems like the kind of person who was inspired by a teacher which led to him becoming one himself. I wanted to have him connect with Danny so I figured a sad back story and similar student situation might do the trick. Faith= faith, Kyna= wisdom so her name translates to faithful wisdom.

3- I, as mentioned in a previous a/n, am a fan of Haiju. I support some of her theories regarding Phantom's structure. I would find it weird if Danny's bones, muscles and everything else simply melted into liquid ectoplasm whenever he transformed, only to reform when he shifted back to human form. As such I firmly believe that he retains a vast majority of his human physiological structure even in ghost form, though his heart stops beating and he doesn't need to breathe.

4- When Jack mentions 'Benzine' he is referring to Benzodiapine, a sedative, anti-anxiety, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant.

ECG- Heart monitoring device that records the heart's electrical impulses

EEG- Electroencephalography; is used to monitor brain waves


	6. Bringing Both Feet Together

Chapter 6- Bringing Both Feet together.

"Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place in the object we're waiting for."  
-Charles Stanley

Jack jotted down the EEG reading for the twelfth time since Phantom had been hooked up to the ectoplasm drip. Like clockwork he recorded that and the ECG number every ten minutes and took note of any change.

Phantom was looking much better already. Within the hour he had started regaining some of his color and his wounds, though not fully healed, also showed good progress indicating that his healing was at least getting somewhat back up to speed.

With the current readout recorded Jack grabbed the thermometer from Phantom's mouth and held it up to see. 37. _'Wish we had some kind of base line to compare this to.' _Jack thought scribbling the number under a box labeled 'Temp'. Shrugging he shook the thermometer a few times before inspected the red alcohol inside. Satisfied that it was almost back up to the room's temperature he put the thermometer back into its case and moved the holder to a partially littered table that had been brought over to give the scientists more table space.

"I think you can take a sample now." Jack called over to his wife.

Maddie held a finger. "One sec." She read over another few lines on the monitor in front of her then got up and walked over to the table. She glanced at Phantom and bit her lip. "Maybe I shouldn't. I mean he did lose quite a bit of ectoplasm and he's still recovering."

"Maddie it's been an hour and a half. I think he has enough for a smallsample. Besides he wasn't bleeding core plasm, he should have plenty and that's more important to analyze then the stand stuff. We can get a lot more information from it."

"It's just… his core is under enough strain regenerating the rest of him, I don't want to put too much pressure on it." She was trying to save her boy, not kill him.

"He'll be fine. Phantom's been through the worst part and he's still intact. I think he can handle losing a few mLs. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

'_No he wouldn't.' _Maddie agreed. _'The problem is _I _do.' _She sighed and grabbed an empty 10 mL syringe sitting next the one she had used earlier to put Phantom under. _'I don't even know where his core is other than around where his heart should be.'_

Straightening up Maddie removed her right glove and pressed her hand into Phantom's chest testing it in a couple of areas. When she found a spot colder than the rest she stopped. Assuming that's where his core was Maddie slowly inserted the needle until she felt some resistance. Taking a deep breath she gave it a harder push and felt it sink into something. Phantom's face scrunched slightly before relaxing again. Maddie grabbed the plunger and pulled up watching as a cyan, instead of bright green, ectoplasm plasm filled the syringe.

When the syringe was full Maddie waited a minute to make sure Phantom had no reaction before she slowly removed the needle.

"See Honey, now you have a sample that we can analyze and you can store the rest for that big project you're working on." Jack said giving her a pat on the back. "No harm done, he's fine."

Maddie nodded and went back over to the monitor she had just come from. She pulled out a thin plastic tray from a new looking device next to her computer and carefully deposited a drop from the sample just taken into a small well. With the core sample in place she slid the tray back into the analyzer and pressed a grey button an inch above the slot opening. A green light flickered on in response.

'_I better put the rest in a safe place.' _Maddie thought picking up the syringe and giving it a long, hard look. _'It's beautiful. I wonder why it's a different color, maybe because it's an ice core? If so does that mean color is based on the element ability? I'd love a sample from another ghost to compare this to. There are bound to be abnormalities since Phantom's part human but I'd be willing to bet that it's on par with the stand make up. If it was too different I'm not sure 'Phantom' would be able to exist.' _

She rose from her swivel seat grabbing an empty vial from a test tube rack before she left her work station and walked to the lab's small walk in freezer. Though it wasn't much bigger than a closet it served its purpose well and the two scientists had never found need of a giant freezer. Most of the chemicals they used could be stored at room temperature and the select few that couldn't didn't take up much space. Half the occupied room was actually filled with Jack's emergency stash of fudge, which he had insisted _must_ be kept in a secure place.

Maddie opened the door and stepped inside. Color air immediately assaulted her and she was glad her hazmat suit insulated her body temperature. In the winter it kept her warm and throughout the summer it kept out a good portion of the sun's excess heat. She uncapped the test tube and injected the rest of Phantom's core plasm into it before putting the plastic cap back on and setting the tube in a rack that only had one other sample in it.

Satisfied that her son's core material wasn't in danger of getting lost or spilled do to Jack's or, less likely, her own carelessness she closed the door and went over to the table Phantom lay still on. Maddie ran her hand down Phantom's left arm giving his hand a gentle squeeze when she reached it. "How's he doing?"

"All things considered pretty good. His face has gotten most of its color back and his aura's back to normal. Phantom's delta waves also shifted a bit, they moved to about 1.6. I don't think he'll be waking up for a few hours since he's still in a deep state but it's not as comatosed as it was before and the ECG readings have been steadily going up."

"You mean in frequency or strength?" She asked.

"Both. After the initial reading which was off the scale, his field's power output plummeted to almost nonexistent. Most likely the electricity from the power lines hadn't really dissipated on his way from the school to here so it was still pretty built up. Once he got put on the table however it started leaving much faster since this," he patted the stainless steel table, "is grounded. Those first numbers were still registering the excess but by the time we recorded the second set it was just Phantom's output which was next to nothing in his state. Ever since then it's been getting stronger though the amplitude has mostly leveled off at this point. I think that's a good sign." Jack supposed.

"Yes, his field probably aligning itself back to a normal range. I'd say he just needs some rest then he'll be up and running again."

"He's should be stable enough to leave alone for a few minutes so we can get something to eat. You hungry Maddie?"

Maddie looked at Phantom. If Jack had asked her half an hour ago she would have declined without a second thought; her stomach had still been in knots and twisting a bit, but now that Phantom was no worse off than after a bad battle she was feeling more like herself and her stomach was telling her that food would be much appreciated. "The computer probably needs at least another twenty minutes to finish the initial report and I think there are some leftovers in the fridge. He should be fine even if we left him like this for several hours so just a couple of minutes would be fine." Maddie conceded following Jack to the stairs then up them.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Like Maddie had remembered, when she opened the fridge a tub of dumplings was sitting on the top shelf from the previous night. She heated them along with some premade white rice and spring rolls in the microwave as a late lunch for the two of them.

"I'm glad he's doing better. Phantom really had me worried when he first showed up." Maddie said dishing out the Chinese food.

"I'm not used to seeing him so still. For someone who's dead he always seems so alive." Jack said stabbing a beef dumping with his fork. "To be honest I'm surprised Phantom came here. I would have assumed that he'd want to meet up with some of his ghost friends. If I was a ghost I'd assume that they knew more about my structure than humans did." He popped the dumpling into his mouth before skewing another and shoving it in with the first.

Maddie internally sighed at the sight. She and Jazz seemed to be the only ones in the house who believed in eating Asian cuisine properly. "He would have had to come here either way then since we have the only working ghost portal and Phantom likely knew he wouldn't make it to where his allies in the ghost zone were."

"That shows he was thinking. A ghost's mind is controlled by their electrical field, it's really a wonder he could have that level of insight with his core getting as overcharged as it did. Him surviving is just as impressive though, most ghosts would have melted from that kind of destabilization. Maybe Phantom didn't because he's denser and his ectoplasm naturally lends itself to greater stability."

"It's an interesting theory." Maddie agreed pinching a spring roll between her chopsticks and taking a bite out of it. "One I disapprove of testing."

Jack laughed at that. "Oh Maddie you don't think I'd go testing the melting levels of Phantom against other ghosts do you? No, you're right he's much too valuable to do anything so damaging to him. Beside I know how much you and the kids have taken to him."

The two sat in silence while they finished their meal. When the food was all eaten Maddie rinsed out the plastic containers and washed the plates while Jack dried them one by one as Maddie handed them to him.

With their lunch break over Jack followed Maddie back down stairs.

"We can probably just take the readings every thirty minutes at this point." Maddie said recording the latest one.

"That sounds fine." Jack agreed going over to his personal work space on the floor. "I'm gonna get some work done on the specter sensors Mads. Maybe you could finish the conversion chip now."

"I still need to fine tune to transmitter but since Phantom is hooked up to the EEG I guess I could start the converter."

. . . . . .

A few hours later when the last rays of light had set Jack stood up and cracked his stiff back.

"Alright. I'm going to start distributing the sensors. I'll be back in a bit Honey." He announced grabbing an armful of the metal contraptions he had been working on.

"Make sure you space them properly. It's always better to put them too close then too far apart. We don't want any holes in the grid." Maddie warned.

"Don't worry, I measured Amity's dimensions last week after I installed the ghost shields at the school. I have enough to cover about a fourth of the town right now so that's all I'm going to do. I'll need you in the ops center when I get back to help link everything up and back to our systems."

"Sounds good." Maddie stopped and looked over at the pile of ghost sensors still scattered about Jack's area. "Would you like a hand?" She asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Shaking her head slightly Maddie carefully step sided the obstacles littering the floor and made her way to the messy part of the lab her husband called his work area. One by one she picked up the small cylindrical devices, placing the first few atop the ones already stacked in Jacks arms, and then tucking the rest under her arms. "I think that's all of them." Maddie observed sweeping the floor with her eyes.

She followed Jack out to the RV and gently set the electronics in the back.

"I shouldn't be gone too long, I already mapped out where to put these puppies."

"I know, I helped with those calculations after all."

"That you did… where would I be without you?" He asked rhetorically.

"Not sure, but then again I don't know where I would've ended up if I hadn't meet you." Maddie gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek. "Drive safely." She said as jack climbed in the giant of a vehicle they drove.

"Don't I always?" Jack asked seriously. Maddie had to bite back a several things at the question including an eye roll, laugh, and sarcastic remark.

"I'll see you in a bit." She replied instead heading inside as Jack drove off.

Instead of going back down to the lab Maddie walked up the stairs and down to the master bedroom. Removing the carpet she told the ever ready command device, "One to the ops center." Immediately the Plexiglas tube shot down and sucked her up.

The auburn haired scientist made her way over to the main console and logged into the isolated FentonWorks computer system. Maddie figured she could start doing the setup work before Jack got home, that way it wouldn't take as long to connect all the sensors together and then back up to their mainframe. Maddie's fingers danced across the keys as she typed in a series of commands that left computer ready and waiting for the sensors Jack was distributing to come online.

Finally a little yellow dot blinked to life on the screen. Several minutes later another started flashing and every few minutes a new dot would appear. As the points emerged the computer picked up the signal and Maddie locked the connection to the system creating a continuous feedback loop. She then tied the individual information streams together forming a grid. As each new signal came online she added it to the group expanding the range of the ghost detecting web.

New dots kept appearing until there were about two dozen flickering blips arranged in a quarter circle on the ops center screen. When no more points emerged after 10 minutes Maddie knew Jack was on his way home.

. . . . . .

Stabbing the last of the sensors into the ground Jack inserted the master activation card into the thin slit and pushed the small red button on the side of the stem. A sharp beep informed Jack that the device was up and transmitting its signal.

The giant of a man stood up and wiped his hands on the sides of his bright orange jumpsuit. With his hands mostly clean and the task done Jack got into the RV and head home.

. . . . .

Feeling thirsty Maddie got up and went to the fridge. She opened the door and frowned. No water. Or juice. Hell no soda even. Sighing Maddie closed the mostly empty and drink free fridge and walked to the side of it. She pressed a little button that read 'emergency stairway- leads to kitchen' and gave herself an internal pat on the back when part of the metal wall slide aside revealing a staircase.

'_I am so glad I installed this.' _She thought descending the steps.

Stepping into the kitchen Maddie went straight the cabinet under the counter and right next to the fridge. She pulled out eight regular water bottles and three quarts sized Gatorades. With her arms full Maddie went back up and loaded the drinks, with the exception of one water, into the fridge. Satisfied that the next time someone needed a beverage they'd be able to get one she went back over to the chair in front of the active monitor.

. . . . .

Phantom lay on the table dead to the world with a peacefully expression resting on his face. The wounds coving his body were healed by this point and only scars betrayed the memory of what had happened earlier.

All of a sudden without any provocation Phantom's aura brightened and condensed around his waist forming a blindingly bright halo of energy. The halo split in two and passed over his torso and legs replacing Phantom with Fenton.

. . . . . .

Jack opened the front door and headed to the kitchen. Walking by the exposed steps that lead to the emergency ops center he started going down the stairway to the basement lab.

A/N: *Gasps* "No Danny wake up! It can't be revealed like this!"

Sorry it's a little late guys but hey the chapter was more doubled in length so you get to read more and life has been a little hectic. Monday was my AP Bio exam; I know I passed and I'm positive I got at least a 4 but I'm excited and can't wait till June because whole class has been convinced that I would get a 5 and I think I might have. Yesterday my class (and a few other science classes) had a video conference with a friend of my AP Bio teacher, Robert Cabana- director of the Kennedy Space Staion. We ran out of time before I could ask my questions so I'm a little not happy about that. Yesterday was my last debate which is also sad. Senior year is coming to a close and I'm going to miss being in high school, I'm getting old- I reminisce about elementary school with ,my friends. Anyway I'm thrilled that this is finished and I apologize for the lack of action but not every chapter can have a fight or life saving scene. Maddie finally gets what she needs so her awesome project (which was my favorite idea) can be finished and that is exciting.

Side notes:

1- Maddie references eating Asian food properly. For me I understand that some people simply can't figure chopsticks out no matter how hard they try, I get it. I just get annoyed with people when they don't even try to see if they can and head straight to the fork

2- The specter sensors or part of a project I always pictured the Fenton's working on. They're ghost sensors that are linked together electronically and distributed around the town forming a detection grid. Much more efficient than having to go up and down every street in search of trouble.

By the way for people who haven't checked out my author's page, I keep a CBAP update status section on there. I try to update that regularly so people know how the chapter is coming along; how many words and how close it is to being finished/posted, that sort of thing. As always reviews are much loved and welcomed and they seriously make my day. Honestly it's sad how excited I get when I check my emails and I see 'Fanfiction- review'.

\- May Rene


	7. Waking Up

Chapter 7: Waking Up

_"I didn't change, I just woke up."  
-Philo Yan_

Jack paused midstep 5 steps from the bottom.

"Wait…" He said turning around and marching back up the steps. He stopped in front of the kitchen ops center stairwell. _'When did that get here?' _He thought scratching his head. Confused Jack followed the passage up to the emergency ops center and found his wife sitting at the main console typing away. "When was this installed Maddie?"

The scientist in question turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I built this last summer. You helped knock down the metal wall panels Jack. And you tripped on the last step with July's stash of fudge."

"Oh! Now I remember. Yeah that was tragic. Damn ghosts." He muttered.

Maddie shook her head. "I did most of the ground work on the grid and there's not too much to do after that but I still need the master key. That has the encryption code and program specs for it. Also it still needs a name."

"Let's get crackin' then! When it's done I'm sure a name will come to us!" Jack said excitedly.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Danny groaned as he became aware of the harsh pounding in his head and the leadened feeling bearing down on his whole body. _'Damn, what hit me?' _He thought eyes scrunching up in discomfort.

A slew of memories assaulted his mind and Danny's eyes flew open as he bolted upright. He winced at the stinging sensation in his chest and the irritating tug of wires attached to his head. Grunting in annoyance he ripped the silicon pads off his skin and tossed them over the beeping machines. As he moved his arm Danny noticed the IV and carefully pulled the needle out. A bead of red blood welled up. Danny wiped it off without thinking but stared at the red smudge on his thumb frowning. Something was off. He was missing something, something important. _'I'm in my human form!' _His mind suddenly screamed.

His panicky eyes darted around the lab in seconds trying to find his parents. Seeing neither in the immediate area Danny let out a sigh of relief. _'When did I shift? Was it right after Mom knocked me out or did it happen later? What do they think? What're they gonna do? Are they ok with me or am I going to be put through some treatment to purge the 'contamination'?'_

As multiple questions formed in his frantic mind one stopped all the others like a brick wall. _'Did they even see?' _Curious and even hopeful Danny reached for the burning cold energy inside and gave it a solid tug. He let go in surprise feeling it strong and steady. _'How long was I out if I'm already back up to 90%?'_

Reaching for his core again Danny gave a gentle pull and felt energy wash over him; freezing his heartbeat, lessening gravity's hold, and filing him with raw power. He went to get off the table but as soon as his feet hit the floor a wave of dizziness washed over him and forced him to take refuge in the air to avoid hitting anything. He didn't need any _more _injuries. When his vision was clear again Danny flew up the staircase. In the kitchen he immediately spotted the passage he had helped his mom build the previous summer in exchange for a laptop (His desk computer was acting fritzy after all the ghost fights and Technus encounters it had endured in his room).

'_I bet they're up there.' _He thought with dread rising. _'Just… act normal. For all you know they've been up there for hours and didn't see a thing. Normal… I can do that.' _With a fortifying breath Danny trudged up the steps.

At the sound of footsteps both Fentons turned their heads.

"Phantom." Maddie said in surprise. "You're up."

"And actually taking the stairs." Jack noted in amusement.

"Thought I'd switch it up." He replied.

Maddie got up and walked over to the young ghost giving him a thorough looking over. "How do you feel? Any pain? Weakness? Destabilized feeling?"

"Fine, not really, a little and thankfully no. I'm doing much better thanks to you… Both of you." He amended. "I owe you my life."

The auburn haired scientist gave him a sad smile. "No problem." She paused. "You gonna run off now that you're up?"

"If you want me to stay I can stay. You need something tested?"

"No, but even if I did I'd wait till you were feeling better. You were hurt pretty bad, even with your accelerated healing you could stand to get some more rest."

"I'll be good as new tomorrow. Promise."

"I hope so." Jack said joining the conversation. "You can't seem to go a day with getting into a fight and I'd hate to have to sew you back up again so soon."

Phantom rolled his eyes. "It's not like I _try _to get into fights. Ghosts just like picking on, they seem to think it's this rite of passage or something."

Maddie laughed. "Just watch yourself out there." She gave Phantom a pat on the back. "We'll see you around. And you'll definitely see us around; Fenton's are hard to miss."

Phantom chuckled. "You'd know huh? Oh well, I need to get going; I have errands to run. I'll stay out of trouble." He gave Maddie a cheeky grin and flew through the ceiling.

Once he was out of sight Maddie turned her head to the computer monitor. A lime green triangle was moving away from their house, a quarter sized square on the screen. For a few minutes the pair watched the shape showing Phantom's location move until it disappeared from screen out of range.

"I have Phantom's ecto signature on the computer downstairs from the core sample we took earlier. I just need to send the data to this one to hook it into the program data base. That way we'll be able to distinguish him from the other ghosts."

"Why don't you do that now as long as we're thinking about it." Jack suggested.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The cool night air whipped at Danny's hair, smacking raven locks into his face. He didn't mind though, the feeling was one he had long ago grown used to.

It didn't take Danny too long to reach the school and soon enough he was landing on the roof. He looked over to the field where he had been earlier. _'I can't believe I was almost killed by the Klemper and the _box ghost._ I'm never living that down.' _He thought hanging his head in shame. _'Sam and Tucker don't need to know. It'll just upset them and me.'_

Vowing to keep his little misadventure to himself (and obviously his parents) Danny phased through the school's roof into the building. He looked around to see exactly where he was and then started walking. One left turn and three doors down he reached 136. _'I hope Lancer doesn't give me any crap about not making it to the auditorium. I'm not about to be in the mood to explain my greatest humiliation tomorrow to someone who won't even get it.'_

Danny phased through the door and walked over to his pile of stuff which sat untouched at the desk from earlier. He put the loose papers back in his notebook and the note book back in his back pack. Everything away Danny flew off towards FentonWorks intent on having Danny _Fenton_ put in an appearance.

A block away from home Danny transformed into his human form and walked the rest of the way.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Phantom's back." Jack said noting the appearance of the triangle that now read 'Phantom' underneath. "We really need to get more data on the other ghost, this is so convenient."

"I'm sure Phantom can help with that." Maddie said.

"Probably. He does owe us one and-" the signal on Phantom vanished. "What happened?"

"Hm?"

"Phantom's signal, it just… disappeared." Jack said at a loss.

Maddie mentally face palmed. _'Danny…' _she groaned to herself.

"You don't think he…"

"What?" Maddie asked with a feeling she knew what Jack was getting at.

"Destabalized? Melted? Dried up? I mean a ghost's signal just doesn't disappear. Maybe he got into trouble and reopened his wounds."

"I'm sure Phantom's fine, Jack."

"You were the one fussing over him originally, how can you be so calm about this?" Jack asked incredulously. He couldn't understand how his wife wasn't seeing what just happened. Phantom's signature, which indicated that he was still alive, or at least existent, had vanished. Ghosts could vanish. They could channel their electrical energy through themselves and distort the light around them effectively making them 'disappear'. They could disperse their ectoplasmic structure on a subatomic level and then pass it through 'solid' matter. They could fly and shoot energy and overshadow people and so many more things but they couldn't make their electrical fields vanish. Not entirely and certainly not instantly.

It was like a human choosing to stop their heart beat so they could pass as dead. It was possible to induce 'death' with certain toxins and those with the best mental fortitude in the world could will their hearts to slow to unbelievable levels but that took time. And even in those special circumstances the heart rate was slowed but not stopped. Hearts didn't beat fine one second and completely stop the next. Phantom's energy disappeared without a trace. That just didn't add up.

While Jack was going through possibilities and trying to figure out how his wife was handling this so fine Maddie was trying to jar the urge to whack Danny over the head out of her own head. _'I'd bet money he shifted back to his human form and the signal was lost because it can't hone onto his energy. He's going to do something stupid that gives himself away like he did with me one of these day. There're only so many times Phantom's signal can appear and disappear from Danny's room without Jack getting suspicious. Honestly how can someone with so much experience in battle be so careless?' _She stared at Jack a moment. _'I guess I know where it comes from at least.' _She thought dryly.

"We should go to the location his signal disappeared at. There should be something there." Jack stated.

Maddie wanted to sigh. She was happy Jack was showing so much concern for Danny but it was completely unnecessary and she didn't know how to explain that without making Jack suspicious. She had to worry enough about the graves Danny dug for himself, she couldn't afford to go digging her own.

"Jack, we've seen Phantom's signal vanish before. That's just one of his mysteries, like how he can get inside ghost shields. I don't think he could have reverted to such an unstable state in this short of a time period; he was mostly healed when he left and the monitor showed him flying a normal pace with a healthy, steady electrical output. It wasn't failing or falling. I think he's just pulling one of his disappearing acts. If looking would satisfy you more though, we can stop by the street he vanished on."

Jack was about to reply when a voice cut him off. "Mom! Dad! I'm home!"

"We're in the ops center." Maddie said pushing a button that projected her voice through a speaker in the living room. Turning to Jack she let go of the bottom. "Why don't we keep this and what happened earlier to ourselves, there's no need to upset the kids. You know how much they love Phantom."

"I don't like keeping secrets but I suppose keeping quiet is probably the best thing."

Danny came up the stairs and Jack was struck with a strong sense of déjà vu.

"Is dinner ready yet Mom? I'm _really _hungry, like I could eat a horse kinda starving."

'_His core must have drained his body's food reserves when it was in overdrive healing the damage.' _Maddie speculated. "No dear, but I suppose I could start on it now if you're that hungry. Hamburgers ok?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. I could go for some protein."

Maddie nodded. "You want to run that errand while I'm cooking Jack?"

"As a matter of fact I think I will."

While Danny set to work on his unfinished math homework, and man was it hard to remember the procedure after having his brain fried, and Maddie went about fixing dinner, Jack went to the alley several houses down where he had last seen Phantom's ectosignature.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; there were garbage cans and a dumpster, some trash on the alley street and graffiti on the walls. The EMF Jack had brought was beeping strongly indicating a healthy field on Phantom's behalf. _'If he didn't fade what happened to him?' _Jack wondered deciding to go home.

xXxXxXxXxXx (Next day at school)

"Mr. Fenton, are you alright? You never made it to the auditorium yesterday."

"Yes Mr. Lancer, I'm fine. Those two ghosts grabbed me while I was running but Phantom rescued me and sent them packing before anything happened." The night before, Danny had decided to go with that lie in case Lancer had questions about his disappearance. It was reasonable and plausible and chances were it would satisfy the teacher.

"I see. Well I'm glad you're alright and it's nice to know there's at least one ghost around here who's not trouble." Danny smiled. "I'll see you after school?"

Danny stopped and though about whether or not he wanted to stay after what had happened the last time. "Actually I think I will see you after school today. I'd be nice to get back into the swing of things."

xXxXxXxXxXx

The rest of the week passed without incident and life went on. Danny still stayed with Lancer thirty minutes after school and Sam and Tucker, like the good friends they were, dutifully accompanied him. On the weekend Maddie had Danny work on self control and analyzing the consequences of any action he performed, even away from martial arts practice. While Danny ran through sets on his own and Jack tinkered with more sensors for the town wide ghost detector, Maddie snuck up to the ops center and swiftly started on a mini project she had been trying to implement all week.

Pushing the flash drive into the USB port Maddie uploaded the coding she had spent the past several nights working on. The instructions told the system to withhold readings on Phantom if they were coming from inside the house and to send the data directly to her personal computer in the lab, which had a few password protected folders. The added feature was meant to hide all the little ghost acts Danny pulled while inside FentonWorks which could be incriminating and when the information came rolling in Maddie was surprised at how many daily things Danny's powers seemed to appear in.

xXxXxXxXxXx (School- Lunch Time)

"Karate going well?"

"Well, my mom seems to think I have pretty good punches and kicks and she says my reflexes are great. She's having me work on control over the power I put out." Danny looked around and quickly found he table Tucker had gotten. It was by the very edge of the eating area under an ancient green maple that gave the weathered table and any occupants under it refuse from the sun.

"You brought lunch today?" Tucker asked noting the brown bag in his best friend's hands. "Dude, today's one of those few days where the school lunch is actually good."

"That's what Sam keeps telling me."

"It's true. They have organic salad that was grown here in Amity. It comes from the green house my parent rent."

"Your parents rent a green house?"

"The florists sometimes need extra room, since the town shop is so small but it's mainly for people with apartments that have no yard and still wanna try growing some of their own food. The elementary school also rents the front section every year for their sciences classes. Dr. O'Donnell loves doing environmental experiments in a controlled environment."

"Your family is unbelievable." Danny remarked.

"Thanks, but I think yours still has me beat… So getting back to your lesson.'

Tucker grinned. "Tell her about the salt water."

Danny blanched. "That was more torture than lesson."

"Why what happened?"

"Remember I was telling you about?" Sam nodded. "Well my mom also wanted to introduce me to restraint. I had to break a wooden board with a nail in directly over a water balloon. The point was to have me _just _creak to the board in two. Any more than that and the nail would pop the balloon's thin rubber skin."

"That doesn't sound so bad. A little tricky to get but how is that torture?"

Tucker looked at Danny expectantly. "I don't know why you find this so funny!" Danny cried. "Everytime I broke the balloon I had to take a shot of salt water. I wasn't allowed any regular water till I broke the board perfectly, then I could have the water in the balloon."

"How long did it take you?"

Danny held up four fingers. "Four tried?" He shook his head. "Four _hours_? How many shots did you take?"

"He stopped counting after 50."

"I'm never going to be able to go to the beach again without giving the ocean a dirty look." Danny pulled out a turkey and tuna sandwich out of his bag and went to take a bite only to get cut off by his ghost sense.

"Ughhhhh." He groaned

Tucker and Sam looked at him. "It's been quiet all day and you said Skulker was the only ghost you ran into on the weekend. This is a slow day compared to normal, why are you complaining."

"Because I want to eat my lunch in peace! The ghosts can wait till _after _I'm fed." He said taking a defiant bite out of sandwich.

Loud barking drew the trios attention. "That sounds like Cujo." Sam looked past the maple tree in the general direction of the noise. "I think your lunch can wait for him, he's not much of a problem."

Danny sighed. "Fine. I'll go take care of the little guy. How much longer is lunch?"

Tucker looked at his watch. "You still have a good 15 minutes, plenty of time to thermos your dog and scarf down lunch."

Ducking behind the tree Danny shifted to ghost form and flew off in the direction of the barking.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Maddie looked up the spectral dog scowling down at her. How had it gone from the size of a cuddly puppy to that of an elephant?

"I think we might need a bigger needle Mads." Jack said to his wife.

"That's not what I'm worried about this instant!" Maddie hissed. "Nice doggy, good doggy. We don't want to hurt you and you don't want to hurt us." _'I hope not.' _Maddie raised her hands in a non-threatening gesture inadvertently flashing the small syringe in her right hand. The giant dog stared at the gleaming metal a second before opening his mouth and giving a warning growl.

"I'm no expert but I think he doesn't like anything resembling a shot."

"No Jack, you think?" Maddie said dryly.

Maddie got out her lipstick blaster and leveled it her opponent. "I'm warning you mutt, I don't want to fire but I will if provoked."

The ghost stepped forward and Maddie, taking that as an attack, hit the neon green button on the side of her weapon. A small plasm bolt flew straight at the head only to bounce off an energy shield.

"What are you guys doing to Cujo?!" Maddie looked up and amethyst met emerald. Danny gave his mom an annoyed glare before he turned to Cujo. "Down boy. Heel." He commanded sternly. The ghost dog quit growling at Maddie and tilted his head at Danny. Recognizing Danny Cujo sat down, tail wagging. "Aw, who's a good boy?" He cooed scratching him under the chin. Cujo panted happily a moment then popped into his miniature form and jumped into Danny's waiting arms.

"Is he yours?" Jack asked as his wife stared in disbelief. _'Since when is he good with animals? He accidentally killed Jazz's goldfish when he was 4!'_

"Uh… he's not really mine per se but since Cujo listens to me he kinda is my responsibility." Danny looked at the needle. "What were you guys planning on doing to him?" He asked a bit defensively.

"We were going to take a small core sample so we could have his ecto-signature on record. Nothing lasting or lethal."

"You need core plasm to get an ecto-signature? Don't you have other devices that do that like the Boomerang?"

"That does store ecto-signatures but the Boomerang can only hold one at a time." _'and it's currently keyed to yours which I'm not willing to overwrite in case of an emergency.' _"It's also hard to transfer the data to FentonWorks main system." Maddie reached into her hazmat suit and pulled out a thin notebook sized rectangular device that looked to be made of glass.

Danny floated down to the ground. "What's that?" He asked having never seen the device.

"It's an ectoplasmic density scanner." Jack said

Maddie looked at Danny's questioning face and clarified. "Think of it as an X-ray machine for ghosts."

"Ah."

"A ghost's core is typically central much like a human heart for even distribution but the position can and does vary slightly from ghost to ghost. If you could hold your puppy for me Phantom this'll only take a second and I promise he'll be fine." Maddie took several steps forward closing the distance. "Trust me, I won't hurt him." She said at Phantom hesitant looked.

Danny looked between Cujo and his mom trying to gauge the best thing to do. _'She _did _just save my life. I guess Phantom does owe her.' _"Just make it quick. I'm not sure how long he'll sit still for even me if you're stabbing into him."

Maddie nodded and held up the transparent screen to the puppy in her son's arms. _'Amazing. It's all there, even his heart.' _Maddie thought staring at the images of Phantom that were picked up along with Cujo.

"You staring at him or me?" Danny asked raising an eyebrow at Maddie awestruck face.

"Just hold him still." She replied instead of answering. Her eyes roamed the screen searching for a darker spot in Cujo's silhouette on the screen. _'Found it.' _"I need to get to his belly, can you flip him over?"

Phantom sat down and rolled Cujo over to his back once the ghost puppy was in his lap.

"Alright, that's good… it might be better if you keep his attention on you." Maddie suggested inching forward. She squatted down and set the scanner down before giving Cujo a belly rub to help him get more comfortable with her. After a minute she carefully aimed the needle and with steady hands sunk the sharp metal into the firm ectoplasm withdrawing a small amount- about half the size of what she had taken from Phantom. In less than two seconds the syringe was out and Maddie had her prize.

"See, no harm done." She scratched Cujo's ears and the ghost dog rolled over and crawled onto Maddie's lap. Danny stared at his dog and mumbled 'traitor' under his breath.

"How'd he come to be yours anyway? You didn't go out looking for a dog did you?" Ever since he was little Danny had always wanted a dog of his own. Jack and Maddie had calmly explained to him that with all the happenings of FentonWorks pets, or at least ones that couldn't be kept in a cage or tank (like a hamster of fish), weren't safe. Despite being young Danny had, after reviewing several times where _he and Jazz_ had almost ended up in the hospital after some experiments gone wrong, agreed any animals would probably fall victim to his parent in a few weeks and wisely dropped the subject.

"Cujo was a stray. He used to be a guard dog at Axion back when he was alive, but the company replaced him and all the others with electronic security systems. I'm not positive but I think he was put to sleep after that. I caught him haunting the labs and threw him into the ghost zone but he kept getting back out. Eventually I found out he was just searching for his favorite chew toy, but in the mean time Sa- ah, a friend of mine suggested training him since he was showing up so often. She said it might make capturing him easier. I read a few books on basic commands and when I went to teach him I found out he was already trained.

"Soon after that I stumbled upon his chew toy. I gave it to him and he disappeared for a while but one day he showed up again. I figured he was lonely so I spent some time playing with him before sending him back and well, it became a routine- Cujo drops by for some attention then goes home. He's a good boy." Danny gave his parents a pointed look. "He is a perfect example of when _not_ using force pays off. Most people see him and freak out, they attack and then he fights back. When he leaned forward he was giving you a back off warning in response to you brandishing your weapon; he wasn't attacking. And by the way, I don't think aiming at his head was necessary. There are plenty of other nonlethal yet crippling spots to go for."

"I may have acted a bit rashly." Maddie admitted.

"Neither one of us knew." Jack defended. "You might have been able to tell but I couldn't. If he had been getting violent that would have given us time to get more weapons and prevent injuries on us. Are you telling us to wait until the ghosts attack first to start fighting back?"

"Yes. If you give most ghosts the benefit of the doubt they'll go peacefully because they _don't _want to fight. Known trouble makers are a different story. For example Skulker is never here sight seeing and neither is Technus or Ember but-"

"I don't know who they are." Jack interrupted.

"My point is if the ghost in question has a reputation for being a problem then go in expecting a problem and try to prevent it if you can but don't go in guns a blaze every time you hear a blip in your sensors because that's only going to make the interactions between our two sides more violent. If you go for a more diplomatic solution life will be easier on everybody and you'll be amazed by what you can get out of the interspecies relations."

A bell rang in the distance and Phantom groaned. "You guys wouldn't mind watching him right? Cujo shouldn't cause any problems and he seems to have taken a liking to Maddie. I'd drop him off in the ghost zone or play with him but I have something I have to get back to."

Jack stared at Phantom. "You're asking us to pet sit?"

"Think of it as getting a chance to interact with another ghost who's not me but is still good natured. I can stop by and take him off your hands around…" _'I get out at 2:35 and can leave Lancer by 3:00, allow 20 minutes for surprises and to get home so-'_ "3:20. That's only a few hours. I'll even give you permission to do any non invasive tests provided they do no harm physically or psychologically."

Not wanting to miss a chance Maddie decided to further the bargain. "I think that sounds reasonable but if we watch him there's one thing we need you to do."

"And that is?"

"You run into ghosts on a regular basis and after you capture them you come by FentonWorks to put them back into the ghost zone. If you could restrain them so I could take a sample before you deposit them that'd be great."

"You want me to do this with _every _ghost I get my hands on? Do you have any idea how many I thermos in a week? And I do this at all hours of the day, I don't think you'd appreciate getting woken up at 3:00 in the morning."

"No I wouldn't. That's why I was going to suggest you fill the thermos during the week and we have an extraction session during the weekend. That should be fine right?"

Phantom crossed his arms. "I'm not spending my week hunting down ghosts just so I can spend my free time on the weekends handling those same spooks. I have a life you know."

"It wouldn't be the whole weekend or even a large portion of it. Me and Jack have other things to do as well. It would only be a one or two hour session on Saturday and Sunday."

"No, I'm only working one of those days. I want a ghost free day if I can get my hands on it."

"But _you're_ a ghost!" Jack exclaimed.

"I meant a day where I don't have to deal with other ghosts!" Phantom snapped. He looked back of the direction of the school and then at his parents. "I'll give you three hours on _one _of the days; that should cover the three hours of today. Whatever you want to do with that time is up to you. Now I need to get going before I'm late." Phantom bent over to Cujo. "I need you to be a good boy and behave for Maddie. Listen to what she says and I'll play with you later alright?"

Cujo barked happily at him in agreement.

"Such a good boy. I'll see you in a bit." Phantom said patting Cujo on the head before taking off towards Casper High. The late bell sounded a minute later and the two remaining Fentons decided to get going.

A/N:

If anyone wants to shoot me for this getting out so late then go ahead. Just know that if I'm dead there will never be a chapter 8.

So, I got back on Tuesday from my graduation cruise to the Bahamas. It went much better than expected and I didn't get a single sunburn which is unbelievable since I'm so pale. Tonight I'm going to a Taylor Swift concert with my big sis and tomorrow I leave for Williamsburg and I'm staying there for a week. Guess who also got there license on Friday? ME! My sister's wedding is August 9th so this summer is going to be super busy. I'm not sure when I'm going to update next. Also for those of you who look at my ff profile for update status I don't have internet at home and 's mobile site is kinda limited so I have made a tumblr account (May Rene) and I will be giving the chapter statuses on that more frequently, so check there.

Side notes:

1) SAILS- Specter Analysis Identification Locating System. This is the name I have decided to give to the town sized ghost detecting web. Alright, so I've been discussing some ghost theory with Serulium and we've kinda established that ghost's can be tracked by one of two ways- ectosignature which is ghost specific and energy wise which is much broader but non-specific.

The reason Phantom's signature 'disappears' is because it has been weakened or masked so much that the sensors Jack spread around can't pick it up. These are on an industrial scale and are meant more for quantity (to cover a whole _town) _than quality. If Danny was standing right next to one there's a high probability it'll read his ecto signature but unless he's in close proximity he's below the radar.

2) What Jack says about using electricity to change light reflection/absorption is actually a thing.

3) I _think _Danny wanting a puppy is canon but I'm not sure.

Please review. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Have a fantast night or day (if it's day when you're reading this).

~May Rene


	8. Trust Enough

Chapter 8: Trust Enough

"_You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough."_

_~Frank Crane_

Danny quickly flew back to the table to see if Sam and Tucker were still there. As he landed and transformed he noted Sam staring at her watch. "I was gonna give you another 20 seconds before heading back inside. So how'd it go with Cujo?" She asked as Danny grabbed his lunch and the three of them hurried inside.

"I convinced my parents to watch him since I couldn't exactly play with or drop him off in the ghost zone right now." Danny said before stuffing a third of his sandwich in his mouth.

Tucker and Sam exchanged looks. "Come again?"

Danny chewed a bit before swallowing. "My parents were there with Cujo when I arrived and I was talking with them for a bit which is why I lost track of time and before I knew it the bell was ringing."

"So you figured asking your ghost_ hunter _parents to watch a _ghost _for several hours on end was a good idea? I don't even know why they would have agreed knowing you'd want him back in one piece." Tucker frowned. "Unless maybe they thought you didn't care if Cujo came back to you at all."

"Danny this has bad idea written all over it."

"Sam it'll be fine."

"I'm with her on this one Danny. These are your parents we're talking about. Something always happens if it involves ghosts, where do you think you get it from?"

Danny thought about Tuckers point and frowned. "Maybe this was a bad idea." He admitted cramming the rest of his lunch in his mouth before splitting from Sam and Tucker to head to creative writing.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Maddie remarked surveying the labs condition. Several desks were knocked on their sides, including one that was in several pieces, and dozens of papers were strewn about the floor as a result along with anything else that had been on the tables including weapons, wires, tools, a few beakers and Jacks lunch. Honestly, what was with her husband and son's inability to get through a meal without incident? She sighed. "At least the mess wasn't in vain." Maddie muttered under her breath.

"I think we have as much as we're gonna get from the mutt Mads. Why don't you take him to the park or somewhere that's not _here_." Jack suggested. "He seems to be a floating lab hazard."

"I suppose that'd be best. Phantom's not due to pick him for an hour and I don't think this little guy's willing to behave much longer down here." Maddie walked over to her metal shelves and picked up a Fenton thermos. "I think bringing him in one of these would be easier and leave less chance for something going wrong." She pointed the metal canister at Cujo and hit the bottom.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The park was relatively person free when Maddie and Jack arrived. Being hot and on the humid side Maddie led Jack over to the pond she had been sitting at with Phantom and plopped down on the grass under the shade of a few oaks. She got the thermos out and released Cujo before pulling a tennis ball from her jump suit. Cujo's eyes immediately locked onto the ball and he gave a few happy yips. "You up for some catch buddy?" Maddie asked moving the yellow ball back and forth.

"Bark! Bark!"

"Alright." She drew her arm back and threw it. "Fetch!" Cujo took off from the Fentons towards the prize. "I miss doing that." Maddie said after a minute. "I miss having pets in general. It was nice having Bones or Max sit in my lap while I typed up papers; took some of the stress away."

"I know, honey. I had dogs growing up and a stray kitten we found in the garage that one time but you know why we can't have them. Having to keep two kids safe was and still is hard enough. At least with them you can put up a note or just tell them to be mindful. Animals can't read signs and they aren't going to understand 'don't cross the yellow tape' or 'stay away from the ecto-inhalator'."

"Danny didn't seem to understand that one when he was five."

Jack shrugged. "He thought it looked like one of the plasma guns from Terminator and wanted to show it to Tucker. It was a stupid thing to do but at least I understand why Danny did it. I've seen pets, animals in general really, do some pretty dumb things that I can't understand."

"Like the chihuahua with Mittens?"

"Yep. The mutt had it coming to him. He keep barking and baring his teeth at Mittens trying to scare him and when it came time to back up his bark well, Mitten's bit him."

"I'm a little surprise the dog's owners didn't press for your family to pay the vet bills."

"You kidding? The Fenton's have always been the town crazies. Everybody on the block was scared to really do any kind of serious retaliation. Danny and Jazz think _my_ inventions are dangerous? Well they shoulda seen some of the 'toys' Dad tried throwing together."

Cujo trotted up to Maddie and Jack and set the ball down in front of them then sat looking at the two expectantly.

"You wanna give it a try for old times' sake to Jack?" Maddie asked handing Jack the ball.

"Why not?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

As soon as the final bell rung Danny bolted out of the room and out of the building shouting a quick 'tell Lancer I can't stay today!' to Tucker. He ran to the nearest alley and transformed into Phantom then sped off towards FentonWorks praying that nothing had gone horribly wrong.

When he got there Danny was out of breath but didn't stop as he phased down to the basement. The lab was a mess and empty. _'Well the mess doesn't seem to have been from a fight involving ecto weapons at least.' _He thought. Danny looked around trying to find some clue as to where his parents and Cujo were but he came up empty handed. _'Where would they have gone?'_ Confused Danny decided to check the rest of the house. Maybe Maddie had left him note?

Ten minutes late he had no note, no clue, no Cujo, and no place left to look. Danny was about to start searching the neighborhood when his ears picked up talking and the front door opened, Maddie and Jack stepping inside.

"Cujo!" The dog squirmed his way out of Maddie's arms and ran to greet Danny. "Where were you guys?"

"We ended up taking him for a walk in the park." Maddie replied.

"He wasn't too much trouble I hope."

Jack and Maddie exchanged a look that said, 'he clearly hasn't seen the lab'. "Nothing we couldn't handle." Jack said shrugging.

Phantom nodded picking up Cujo. "Time for you to go back home little guy."

The three walked down to the lab and Phantom absently typed in the portal password as he watched his parents valiantly try to straighten up.

Jack snapped his head up at the sound of the Fenton portal opening and frowned. _'Wait a minute….' _He watched as Phantom set the ghost mutt down and gave it a small wave before it voluntarily stepped through and out of sight. Pleased with Cujo safe and now out of trouble Phantom walked back to the control panel and retyped the password setting it back to locked.

Jack was willing to believe the ghost portal had been unlocked and that Phantom had just needed to push the open button. Locking it however definitely required either a Fenton finger print or the override password, neither of which Phantom should have had.

"Phantom, how did you open the portal?"

Phantom looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened comically and he switched to staring at the floor instead of Jack. "I…I _might _know the pass code." He admitted fidgeting a bit.

Well no duh. As far as Jack was concerned that much was obvious, it's not like the ghost could have used the print scanner. "And just how did you come across this sensitive piece of information?"

'_Crap. I can't say he gave it to me and I really don't want 'Fenton' getting chewed out again. I was grounded for two weeks when he found out that I gave it to Sam and Tucker. Handing it over to a ghost, especially Phantom, would be a hundred times worse.' _

"Well?"

Stone walling his Dad was probably the best option. "It doesn't matter. I'd never tell it to anyone."

Jack glared and Phantom glared back as the two began their stare down. A few minutes passed before Jack finally let out a low growl and turned his back to Phantom. "Me and Maddie have work to do, why don't you be useful and make sure no other ghosts are causing a problem or something." He said righting a desk that had been knocked over.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Danny spent a solid two hours anticipating what his Dad was going to say to him. 'How could you trust a ghost with access to the ghost zone!' 'What were you thinking?!' and 'Do you have _any _idea how much trouble you're in?' were the top three things Danny was betting on. Grudgingly when his patrol was over he headed home, albeit at a much more sedate pace.

Danny opened the door and poked his head inside. _'All clear.'_ Quietly he slunk over to the stairs So far, so go-

"Danny. Welcome home son. Why don't you put down your back pack and then we can have a nice father/son chat hm?"

Danny dropped his backpack next to the stairs before following Jack to the ops center. He took a seat opposite his Dad and fiddled with his hands trying to keep his nerves under control. "So uh… what did you want to talk about?" Danny asked. After all how would Fenton know what had happened in the lab if he wasn't there?

Jack studied his son for a moment. "Danny, how do you feel about Phantom?"

"How do I feel about him? Well he's one of the good guys so I think he's pretty cool. I mean he goes around helping people and he puts himself out there. None of the other ghosts are doing that. Phantom sometimes damages things and there are people that are afraid of him but that's not his fault. He's a ghost- there are always gonna be those few people that won't look past that no matter what he does. And there'd be a lot more destruction if the other spooks had a free run of the town. I don't think Phantom does it for the glory either. If you ask around there're a lot of things Phantom does that go undocumented. He's personally helped me out more times than I can count."

"I see... So you trust him."

"Yes."

"Enough that you'd hand over the emergency override password for the Fenton portal so that Phantom could have access to the ghost zone any time he wanted?"

"Uh-"

"He's a ghost Danny; he shouldn't be given an all access pass to the ghost zone! That could be disastrous. What were you thinking?! Were you even thinking? I thought I made it very clear that I didn't want to have a repeat of _that _conversation. I was willing to be lenient before since you'd known Sam and Tucker for years and I could vouch for their character but this… Danny I can't believe you'd do something like this." Jack pinched the bridged of his nose as he let out a deep, calming breath. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me? Or say to me?"

"Dad…I-I..."

"I thought your mother and I raised you better." He sighed.

That comment snapped something in Danny. Jack distrusting Phantom was something he could understand. The two weren't on the best of terms and it didn't help any that all his life Jack had believed all ghosts were evil. Danny didn't expect his Dad to do a 180 in a matter of weeks; that was asking too much. Asking his Dad to trust hisjudgment though, his _son's_, that wasn't unreasonable.

"You did! I may not be the best student but I am one of the best judges of character in this town and I don't go around handing out family secrets! Not without a damn good reason. I don't expect you to trust Phantom. I don't expect you to go giving Cujo or Dora a warm welcome or inviting Frostbite over for milk and fudge but you've known me my whole _life_. I expectyou to have _some_ shred of faith in me and the decisions I make especially those regarding ghosts. I don't think there are any other families in town with the same kind of experience this house does when it comes to dealing with ghosts. There are no other kids who grow up like me or Jazz. I don't have the science degrees you or Mom do but I understand ghosts just as well if not better and I know who to trust and who not to! Phantom is one of the few ghosts I trust. And even if you don't like him or believe in him you should have trust in me and that should be trust enough!"

Danny stood up and stormed down the steps fury swirling inside. The last time this had happened he had felt guilty. Sam had always had an interest in the ghost portal. It would have been no stretch of the imagination to see her opening it up from time to time out of sheer curiosity and Tucker had the occasional tendency to mouth off secrets just to impress people, namely girls. While Danny may not have been thrilled with the Jack's reaction, the grounding and earful he had received were justifiable in his mind.

This time however Danny just felt mad. He hadn't given out the password. It hadn't fallen into to the hands of some deranged ghost hell bend on world domination. If he ever told a ghost, and that was very unlikely, it would be someone Amity could count on or would have no fear of. Danny took protecting his home town very seriously and he wasn't about to go putting it endanger with some stupid little kid mistake. Why couldn't his Dad see that? What had he screwed up so badly on that his own father couldn't afford to trust him?

"What is with everyone thinking I'm the town screw up?" He muttered gathering his backpack before stomping up the steps.

…..

Maddie heard hard footsteps on the stairs, no doubt Danny in a bad mood, and quickly stuffed her flash drive into the small hip box of her jumpsuit.

She exited out of the ghost folder and brought her email back up. Not a second later Danny came storming in muttering something about going dark side for a day. He cut his rant short when he noticed her. "Mom what are you doing?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing really. I'm just checking my emails." She replied easily enough, after all that had been the original intention for coming up here. "There was a small… incident in the lab today and I can't use my computer down there right now. I would have used the ops center one but your father mentioned that he wanted to have a word with you up there and it sounded like it was gonna be a lengthy discussion. I asked Jazz to borrow her laptop but she was taking a test for her online class so I figured you wouldn't mind me stealing your computer for a few minutes."

Danny shrugged. "No I don't mind. If you still need it that's fine, I don't have anything I need to look up for tomorrow."

"Thanks Sweetie, I'll only be another minute or two. I know teenagers don't like parents crowding their room."

xXxXxXxXxXx

When 2AM rolled around the Fenton household was fast asleep except for one member.

"Alright. Let's see what Danny's got in these ghost files." Maddie whispered quietly plugging in her flash drive and opening up the folder. She went through a few randomly to gauge what kind of information the files contained and paused when she saw 'Plasmius' in the list of ghost. _'I wonder what Danny has on the Wisconsin Ghost. There's something not quite right about him.' _She doubled clicked the file and frowned when a dialogue box popped up. _'"A password is required to decrypt file"? Why would this one be locked? None of the others have passwords, what's so special about this ghost?'_

A/N: Merry Christmas! I am **SO **sorry about the long wait everyone (and what's worse is that this is a short chapter). College is more hectic than I originally thought but that is no excuse for it taking about 5 and ½ months to update. Hopefully this will never happened again. You wouldn't believe how badly two baby kitties can bend artificial branches but our tree is finally back up. Despite the Christmas tree it doesn't feel like Christmas and I don't know why. Maybe it's the complete lack of cold (and all the depressing rain) inspite of the fact that it's the end of December?

Moving on to the chapter- I wanted Danny and Jack to talk more but Danny got angry and trashed my plans for a more heart to heart talk. Maybe he'll have cooled off by the next chapter and the two of them can try again. Maddie honestly didn't mean to go snooping. She stumbled upon the folder of ghost files Danny keeps on his computer and said 'oh that looks interesting. I think I'll make myself a copy to look at later.' As for the whole Jack being pissed at Danny for handing out the ghost portal password I think he's got a valid reason. It's shown that Sam and Tucker know the password and I don't think Jack would have been thrilled when he found that out. The portal is his life's work he doesn't want just anybody having access. Though Sam doesn't cause any trouble Tucker does run his mouth in front of the GIW on almost get's both realities blown to bits. The 'Mittens' story was inspired by a real story involving my Dad's half bobcat pet, Mr. Mittens, and a mouthy neighborhood dog that liked picking on every single neighborhood pet.

Reviews are much loved and greatly welcomed. Any constructive criticism, ideas, or general comments are always encouraged. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to PM me. Enjoy gifts and crazy time with family!

~May Rene


	9. Coming Together

Chapter 9: Coming Together

"_Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."_

_\- Henry Ford_

Jack had trouble getting to sleep that night.

In the aftermath of the fight, he and Danny avoided each other like the plague for the rest of the evening and Danny turned in early after a lonely dinner in his room leaving Jack aggravated with himself, his son and unable to talk it out (not that Jack knew what to say).

It took him awhile to finally fall asleep and even then he kept waking up. At one point he noticed Maddie was gone but he didn't feel like looking for her. She had either woken up and realized that there was something she had forgotten to do or she had had an epiphany in her sleep and was down in the lab trying to get it down before the dream faded away. It didn't matter, the next time Jack woke up his wife was dozing peacefully beside to him.

After having his unrestful sleep broken half a dozen times Jack decided that going back to bed wasn't worth the effort. It would take him a solid thirty minutes to pass out again and then he'd only get maybe an hour of sleep before waking up feeling just a crappy as he was right now. What time was it anyway? He sat up and squinted at the angry red numbers of his bedside alarm clock/radio. 5:37am. Well Jack wouldn't call it morning but he knew a few people who considered any time after five to be morning and the sun was already rising so he supposed getting up wasn't too crazy an idea.

As quietly as he could Jack left the bed and went down to the kitchen to fix a pot of coffee all the while thinking about what Danny had said. He trusted his son. It was just that… sometimes he could be a bit irresponsible and prone to impulses. Danny _always _meant well. He had good intentions but the road to hell was paved with good intention. What Danny had said was absolutely right; he and Jazz had more experience with ghosts than any other kids (and adults) in Amity Park with possibly the exception of Sam and Tucker who hung around FentonWorks enough to be considered honorary Fentons.

Danny knew enough to not blindly to trust some ghost. But that brought Jack to his second problem with his son's decision making. He had a habit of being blinded by his emotions. Something Jack could admit to and attest the dangers of. There had been several 'friends' in his life who had taken advantage of his good nature. He didn't want that happening to Danny. As bad as people were ghosts had the potential to be even worse and his son apparently dealt with the spooks on a regular basis if his little slip yesterday was any indication.

"_**I understand ghosts just as well if not better!" **_When did Danny start getting to know ghosts? Sure there were attacks at the school but those weren't situations where you could just strike up a conversation. The students were herded _away _from the spirits. Perhaps he helped Phantom out and had met some of the ghost boy's friends. The thought was funny. Danny made such a fuse whenever he or Maddie suggested family ghost hunting and he seemed wary of most ghosts. Speaking of Phantom…

Maddie was right. Phantom was no ordinary ghost. Jack had personally observed and interacted with him enough to understand that now. He was different but different didn't necessarily mean better. In Phantom's case 'different' meant more intelligent and more free. Quite simply he was more dangerous; a loose cannon who wasn't tied down by obsession or animalistic mental capacity. No, Phantom had the potential to be one of the most dangerous ghosts in existence power aside.

Jack put his head in his arms and slumped forward on the table. Phantom could destroy the town if he wanted. He had the power and was equal parts cunning and slippery. If he didn't want to be caught he wasn't gonna be if he ever went on a rampage. Jack couldn't see that happening though. If nothing else Phantom wasn't a world, or town, domination kind of guy. He genuinely seemed to want to be left alone in his own way by spirit and person alike.

At first he and Maddie had assumed that Phantom's obsession was fighting because that had been the one constant whenever he appeared. But recounting the facts now Phantom's 'obsession' didn't add up and Jack was honestly beginning to question how accurate that sentiment was.

Ghosts didn't make exceptions where obsessions were concerned, obsession was the term for a reason. Yet he had witnessed situations with Phantom _not _fighting. Several instances no less. How could Phantom ignore or temporarily let go of his obsession while remaining a ghost? He couldn't. If a ghost ever got closure enough to let go it ceased to exist having lost its tether.

Maybe Phantom had no obsession? Was that what made Phantom so special? It would explain his clear mind but then how was he able to maintain his form? Perhaps a physical object acted as his tether, something or someone he couldn't leave behind just yet. If that was the case eventually it could, would, turn into an obsession. That would also mean that Phantom was a young ghost in more than just appearance. It was hard to gauge how old ghosts were when they didn't age and male ghosts were even worse since guy fashion tended to be more fad resistant.

The coffee maker gave a short series of beeps. Registering that the coffee was done Jack sluggishly sat up. Whatever Phantom's case was it didn't matter at the moment. He stood and turned the machine off before grabbing the pot and a ceramic mug from the dish rack along with a metal spoon and set everything on the table. Once his hands were free he got a bottle of chocolate syrup from the fridge and poured what any other person would have considered an overkill amount into the steaming liquid. Coffee now acceptable Jack settled back into his wooden chair and thought about what he wanted to accomplish with this time to himself.

He was analyzing Phantom but Jack wasn't here to figure out Phantom's mysteries, not all of them at least. He was sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee at just before six because his son was apparently in cahoots with the most dangerous ghost he and Maddie had ever come across and he needed to figure out just how he felt about that.

Danny being acquainted with Phantom didn't bother him. Not at all. Everyone knew Phantom to one extent or another and plenty claimed to be on good terms with the ghost. The two being friendsis what unsettled Jack. And they had to be pretty close for Danny to give out sensitive information and FentonTech. But was the friendship mutual? Was it even real?

It all boiled down to if Phantom was being honest with Danny or if he was tricking him into some fake one sided friendship with Danny as a means to an end. For all he knew Phantom was overshadowing his son and trying to leave good impressions in his mind or doing something as equally sleazy.

Jack wanted to give Danny the benefit of the doubt, he really did. But trusting his son wasn't the issue. The issue was trusting Phantom who despite being labeled a good ghost by many hadn't proved himself in Jack's eyes.

He took a long sip of his coffee and set it down staring into the murky dark brown liquid. Phantom, for all anyone knew, could just been protecting his territory and the inhabitants that came with it. Where was the proof that Phantom was doing this for their benefit and not his? That his actions were from altruism not a self interest that happened to coincide with the well being of Amity's citizen? And that didmake a difference because if it was the latter and those interests changed that could spell disaster for Jack's town.

Maybe he was over thinking things. His gut said that Phantom wasn't bad. He wasn't out to get anybody or do anything malicious. He trusted his gut. So why was it also telling him that Phantom was hiding something huge?

xXxXxXxXxXx

If Danny thought he could get away with it, without anyone hearing the sound of an ecto blast, his alarm clock would have been a smoking pile of burnt metal and ash. It had woken him up one too many times before his liking this marking period (his mom must have found a way to permanently set it to go off 6:30 on weekdays) and the acid green numbers only served to worsen his bad moods whenever he looked at them.

Three hours of sleep. That's what he was running on. It would have been less but Jazz had knocked on his door around 1:30 asking him to stop playing Doom so he could get some sleep before going to bed herself. He briefly considered ignoring her request but decided that he'd regret it during school the next morning.

When he woke up at a little before five Danny reasoned that he had enough sleep to function at an acceptable level for the rest of the day and immediately logged back on to Doom. He wasn't sure whether he was annoyed or touched when the player who turned out to be Lancer reminded him about test he knew Mr. Fallucca was giving. Danny settled on touched when Lancer let slip the fact that he was planning a pop quiz during English after Danny had explained why he was adventuring in his little escape world so early in the morning.

As he turned off his computer and grabbed _The Scarlet Letter_ out of his backpack Danny wondered why he bothered to tell Mr. Lancer that he had been fighting with his dad the night before. It was probably because Danny liked the man more then he used to. The English teacher truly seemed vested in his student's lives and problems in and out of school. Maybe he'd be more understanding if Danny seemed slightly off kilter during class today. Mr. Lancer would probably leave Danny alone for the most part during class and expect to talk about it after school.

The fight wasn't too personal, or at least what he'd tell Lancer wouldn't be. He would explain that his dad didn't like the fact that he was helping Phantom and was appalled by Danny sticking up for the ghost. Lancer appreciated what Phantom was doing so Danny knew he'd have his teacher's sympathy.

Halfway through the list of flagged paragraphs Danny heard a soft knock on his door. He frowned when his Dad opened the door and took a step inside.

"I figured you might be up. Would you mind if we talked a bit more? You kinda stormed off yesterday." Jack said quietly trying not to disturb anyone else in the house. He didn't sound particularly mad so Danny figured a night's sleep must have calmed him down.

"It'd be better to talk in the kitchen." Danny whispered back after a minute. Jack nodded and the two walked down stairs.

"I'm not sure there's anything for me to say." Danny said voice tight as they entered the kitchen.

"Well there's plenty for me to say so sit down. Coffee?" Danny raised an eyebrow and Jack shook his head. "Your mothers not here so you can have a cup if you want."

"Alright."

Jack grabbed another mug as Danny sat down and filled it halfway. "Nest quick?" He passed the bottle when Danny shrugged and nodded.

"I thought about what you said. I also gathered some things you didn't." He paused and watched his son's face. "When did you start helping Phantom? Was it from the beginning or after you two became friends? And speaking of friends did you drag Sam and Tucker into it or did they follow you to hoping to keep you safe?"

Leaving his dad to stew over this wasn't probably a good idea. His imagination tended to go rampant and he was going to try and find out one way or another. Cutting him off at the pass was the best option. The only question was how was Danny going to answer.

Half truths were always easiest to work with. "I met Phantom during one of the early ghost attacks at the school. We- me, Sam, and Tucker- got attacked by the lunch lady ghost and Phantom saved us from being seriously hurt or worse. I saw him battling more ghosts after that and decided to help since no one else was at the time. Even you and mom weren't doing much in that regard since creating effective weapons to fight with was top priority."

"So you were friends right from the start." Jack speculated.

Danny smiled to himself. "Not even close. I'm not sure I hated him but I really didn't like Phantom before he saved me. He was a ghost and well…. I had no reason to think anything else." And that was the truth. He hadn't wanted his powers at first. In fact he had been resentful of them. They were constantly acting up and getting him in trouble despite his and his friends' best efforts. Until the lunch lady incident he hadn't realized just how lucky he was to have them. While being Phantom had a price not having those powers with other ghosts running around also had a price and that cost was much worse.

"Even after the incident I wouldn't call us friends. Our relationship was friendlier than before but it was mostly a working relation. He'd catch the ghosts and I'd toss 'em back into the ghost zone."

Jack nodded. The explanation so far was more reassuring than he had expected. Danny hadn't blindly gone to Phantom as a fan. Hell apparently he hadn't approved of the ghost at first which was a shock to Jack. His son had slowly evaluated the ghost and through that found that Phantom could be trusted somewhat. That did raise a question though. "What happened? What got you two closer?"

Danny stared at his hands trying to think of an answer. When did he start getting comfortable with his powers? At what point did they really become a part of him and his identity? Where was it that he first started being unable to imagine his life without being Phantom?

"Don't know?"

"I'm… not sure that there was necessarily one major event that did it." Things were kinda blurred together in that regard. Accepting his ghost half had taken time and he had no idea when it had happened or even if it had fully happened. There were times he thought he was okay with being a hybrid and then something would happen that left him bitter and angry about his condition. Thing that made him question how much Amity wanted or even needed him. The incident with Spectra. Then Cujo and Valerie. Of course Walker and being made public enemy number one. Freakshow mind controlling him into robbery. Vlad taking over as mayor because of a prank war gone too far. But there was one ghost who took the cake. Himself. Or rather his alternate future self, Dan.

"If you spend enough time with anybody you'll eventually get closer to them whether you want to or not. I slowly started getting used to the idea that Phantom was a good guy and he never let me down." Until Dan of course. The fact that he would have gone dark side and Hitler on the world if Clockwork hadn't intervened still deeply unnerved him. Worry of ever turning into something remotely similar would always sit in the back of his mind. But… "Whenever something bad happened he'd always explain the whole story. I know some of his track record looks criminal but it was never done intentionally or with malicious intent." And that was the one thing he took solace in. The fact that nothing bad was ever done intentionally. He was only human after all and so prone to mistakes.

"But why you? Phantom's helped most people with one thing or another and yet no one else seems so close. What makes you special to him Danny?"

That hit a lit too close for his liking. What made him special and so intimately connected was the big secret; the fact that they were two halves of the same whole. "People are hard on him and constantly scrutinizing everything he does. I guess Phantom liked the fact that I gave him a chance instead of judging one way or the other. I was probably the first person to do that so he stuck around me more."

"And Sam and Tucker? How involved are they?"

'_Too involved.' _"As deeply as I am. We mostly watch Phantom but if he looks like he's struggling we'll create a distraction."

"I see."

A pregnant silence fell on the two. Danny fiddled with his hands a moment before the working up the courage to ask Jack, "How much trouble am I in for everything?"

"…You're not."

"Wait- what?"

"I'm trusting your decision regarding Phantom like your mothers."

"Like mom's?"

"Maddie seems to have taken a liking to Phantom. A mutual one apparently and she's kindly asked me to be less hostile with him unless I have good reason to be. I don't know exactly what brought it on but Maddie's instincts are usually right and if you're agree with her then I suppose I can start giving Phantom a little trust. He has done some questionable things but you're right. He does try and everyone makes mistakes. If they weren't intentional then I shouldn't be crucifying him for them."

"So you're not gonna tell me to stop helping him?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, it wouldn't do any good. You're as stubborn as any Fenton. I doubt you'd give it up just because I told you to." A thought struck Jack. "Is that why you're out late sometimes? You're helping Phantom with ghost hunting?"

"Yeah. I can't blame him for every night though. Sometimes I would just lose track of time."

"How come you never told your mother or me?"

"I didn't think you'd approve of me helping him. You would have said it was dangerous and that Phantom would shoot me in the back when I wasn't looking."

Jack chuckled. "I probably would have. Might have used you to capture Phantom to. You don't have any other surprises regarding Phantom do you?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Hold him steady." Maddie instructed walking over.

"Right 'cause I'm not already trying to do that." Phantom muttered adjusting his grip on the ectopus. It thrashed more urgently as Maddie approached with brandished the syringe. "You think you could hurry up? My two arms aren't going to be able to hold his eight for very long like this." What he wouldn't give to be able to duplicate himself instead of just winding up with two heads or two torsos on the better attempts.

"I'm going as fast as I can. I don't want to miss and have to stab him again which means he can't be moving around so much." She responded steadying her hand again the ghost's skin. The ghost started glowing blue and Maddie looked up to see it partially frozen. "You couldn't have done that to start with?" She asked drawing her sample.

"My ice powers aren't fully developed so they're more draining and I'm putting out a continuous stream so he doesn't break the ice. It's taxing so doing this with every ghost so far wouldn't have been an option. He's weak enough that I can manage."

"Got it." Maddie declared withdrawing the needle and setting it on a desk next to a dozen others. Phantom quickly stepped away from the ghost when she grabbed the Fenton thermos sitting on the desks corner and the octopus ghost vanished in a swirl of blue light. "How many more do you have in your thermos?"

Phantom floated to a chair and dropped into it. "He was the last one. It wasn't a very busy week."

Maddie pressed her thermos into the deposit lock on the portal control unit. "I think thirteen ghosts is busy enough." She said pushing the flush button. They watched the ghosts flow through the connecting cable and into the portal.

Phantom shrugged. "The most I've had in any one week was a little over forty so a baker's dozen is nothing."

"Forty? That's an awful lot of ghosts. Why was that week so busy?"

Phantom got an annoyed scowl on his face. "Your husband was showing off the portal's genetic scanner and kept opening and closing the damn thing. I understand from friends that there was literally a _line _of ghosts waiting their turn to cross over."

Maddie shrugged. "Well you've seen Jack. He can get a little excited with his inventions."

"Oh and you can't?" Phantom said knowingly.

"Most normal people take pride in their achievements. Fenton's are no exception. Don't you take some pride in the fact that you managed to capture that many ghosts at once?"

"I do. It's not something I enjoyed having to do but the experience you get from situations like that is great. If you ever want any tips I could give you some."

"With you catching all the ghosts before anyone else can show up I think there's little need. Besides there's something else you could give me that'd be a great help."

Phantom quirked an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"Would you be willing to give me a sample of your core plasm?"

"For your invention?"

Maddie nodded. "I've worked out all the other components as much as I can without that last piece." The amount she had wasn't enough. It was sufficient for getting some calibrations but to power the thing she'd more. "You don't have to if you're not comfortable with it. I'd never force you."

"No but you'd force every other ghost I come across to play donor. I can't help but wonder why." Maddie had no reply and he couldn't shake the feeling that she knew something. "Take your sample. I know how important your research is I don't want to hold it up."

It took Maddie a minute to find an empty syringe but there were a few left. When she came back over Maddie put a hand on Phantom's shoulder and he flinched. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you." She said gently.

"I know. I just… I'm not a big fan of needles."

"Can I trust you to hold still?"

Phantom snorted. 'I've never needed anyone to hold me down when I get shots." He was nowhere near as bad as Tucker.

"Alright." Maddie unzipped his suit slightly searching for the spot she'd previously found. When she found it Phantom looked away as Maddie pushed the thin metal into his flesh. In a moment she was done. "You want a lollipop and sticker?" She joked.

"I'll take an ice pop instead."

"You want toasted almond, éclair, Oreo, or strawberry shortcake?"

"Éclair. I've always loved chocolate."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Jack and Maddie sat at the ops center mainframe inputting data from Maddie's earlier collection session with Phantom. "This is the last sample Jack."

"Really? He didn't catch the Crater Creep this week?"

"Apparently Phantom hasn't seen him in several days and his name is actually the Box Ghost."

"I think I like Crater Creep better."

"Neither name is particularly threatening but then again he's not a very menacing ghost."

"I'll say. Did you have any problems with the ghosts?" Jack asked.

"None. Phantom was very careful with them so no one got hurt. I'm not sure when we're going to do it again though. I didn't get to discuss that with him."

"That's ok. This is a start."

Maddie nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah." It was a start. The data base was finally coming together. It already had a dozen ecto-signatures on file and Maddie was in the process of compiling the information she had taken from Danny's computer. There were those four files she couldn't crack but that was okay. There was much more than she had expected to find and Maddie was still going over new material because of the sheer volume.

Most of the files were on specific ghosts. The level of detail ranged from just a name and speculated background to abilities, connections, haunts, weaknesses, lair, and more. Some files had detailed information about specific places and those sometimes had maps that accompanied them. Most of the drawings were rough like Skulker's Island, Klemper's Tundra, and Dora's Kingdom. A few though were fully illustrated and meticulously labeled such as the Far Frozen, Clockwork's Tower and Pariah's Keep. Perhaps this is where Danny's first interest in art had come from.

One kept a running list of abilities Danny had come across. That document sorted the ghost powers by nature. The ice section was all highlighted and littered with various marks and comments. A few things under generic had an asterisk next to them which according to the little legend indicated that Danny wanted to learn the technique or was in the process of learning it.

Another was about ghost artifacts. Of the thirteen listed Maddie only recognized the Time Medallion which she's seen once or twice before in her son's room when he had torn it apart looking for something. At that time she had no idea what it was other than some weird looking necklace she assumed Sam had give Danny for one reason or another.

Danny's files weren't complete but they were a start. And speaking of starts Maddie finally had enough of Phantom's core plasm to start the final stage of her project.

It would take time to sync everything up. She needed to link the transmitter and conversion ship together but the hard part was going to be finding the right spectrum of impulses that would the conversion chip could use to communicate with the ectoplasm. It was Danny's ectoplasm though so she'd start with the information she'd gotten from the EEG. It would have been nice if there was more data from his conscious range but she hadn't expected Danny to lie on the table for very long once he'd woken up.

The last stage was going to be the hardest but the challenge was one she was looking forward to. Once everything was finished Maddie would have a better understanding of her son and what he could do. This was a chance to walk in Danny's shoes and once she could she'd be out there fighting beside him.

"Alright Mads it done."

Good. She had work to do.

Omake:

"You seemed in better spirits today then I was expecting Mr. Fenton. You even participated more than usual."

"Me and my Dad talked this morning before school and got things resolved."

"What was the fight about anyway?"

"You know how I sometimes come to class banged up?" Mr. Lancer nodded. "I sorta help Phantom out from time to time and my Dad found that out yesterday. He wasn't quite as appreciative as Phantom about my involvement."

"I'm not sure I blame him. That seems pretty dangerous for someone as young as yourself."

Danny shook his head. "That wasn't what his problem was. He's been trying to take me and Jazz ghost hunting for a few years now. His objection was hunting ghosts with a ghost. Specifically with Phantom. His other problem was me occasionally giving Phantom access to some of their equipment. I understand where he was coming from but my parents aren't the ones out their fighting. Phantom is so I figured that's where FentonTech would do the most good."

"While that is a fair point it, whatever you've given Phantom wasn't yours to hand out as you saw fit."

"Are you playing devil's advocate or are you really siding with my dad on this?"

"I happen to be a fan of Phantom's and I agree that it's not your parents I see on the scene whenever there's a ghost attack so if I was taking sides it would be yours. I'm merely saying that even though most people tend to think of Robin Hood as a hero there are still who label him a common criminal. Whatever the case I'm glad the issue has been resolve."

Danny nodded and started packing up. It was time for both of them to get going.

"By the way, I have those quizzes graded if you want to see yours. If not I can just give it to you tomorrow."

Danny thought about it for a moment. Whatever the grade was it couldn't be too bad. At worst it would be a C. "I'll take it now."

Lancer handed the piece of paper face down to Danny and smiled. "It was actually one of the best grades in the class. I think only Michael and Samantha got a higher score."

Immediately Danny flipped his quiz over and his eyes found the 20 in bright red at the top of the right corner. "Wait how did they score higher than me if I got a perfect score?"

"There was an extra credit question at the very bottom."

"I thought that was a joke. Since when do you put Doom questions as extra credit?"

"It was supposed to be a gift for students needing the extra two points. Don't worry about it. You didn't need to extra credit."

"No I guess not. How many people got it right?"

"Not too many actually. Most people just took guesses as to what was in the safe. I guess no one can figure out how to crack the MegaMart safe open."

A/N: So Jack and Danny are cool again. Even better than before actually and Jazz is so awesome. I had to throw her in because she's always trying to look out for Danny even if it's just something small like making sure he gets some sleep. Speaking of awesome my first date EVER was great last night. Deadpool was really good and dinner afterwards was also nice. It's hard to talk about first date topics when you've know the other person for over three years.

Notes

1) Jack is a very trusting person and, as we can see with Vlad, can be very oblivious to a friend's mistreatment. I don't think it's a stretch to say he's been betrayed before and would worry about that happening with Danny.

2) Danny for his part during the conversation is being very truthful. 'Phantom' is the full manifestation of his powers so he's recalling how he got used to his abilities.

3) Maddie gets her samples for SAILS and can now start finalizing the ecto-skin. She's in for quite the ride trying to figure out how to use Danny's abilities. They were his powers and gave him hell. As for the four files that were encrypted those were Plasmius, Danielle, Phantom, and Dan.

sS


End file.
